I think President [Barack] Obama deeply underestimated the force of white supremacy in American life.

Never forget that we were enslaved in this country longer than we have been free. Never forget that for 250 years black people were born into chains-whole generations followed by more generations who knew nothing but chains.

The progressive approach to policy which directly addresses the effects of white supremacy is simple - talk about class and hope no one notices.

Is the Jewish race thriftier than the Arab race?

Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.

To prevent enabling oppression, we demand that black people be twice as good. To prevent verifying stereotypes, we pledge to never eat a slice a watermelon in front of white people.

An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future.