Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was moved to comment on the horrifying racially-motivated murders in South Carolina, where a white gunman killed nine black people at a church. Clinton, the Democratic front runner, spoke about race being a “deep fault line” in American society. Clinton emphasized that the race problem is as much under the surface as on it, saying “our problem is not all kooks and Klansmen, it’s also the cruel joke that goes unchallenged.” The former First Lady and Secretary of State continued: “It’s the offhand comment about not wanting ‘that kind of person’ in the neighborhood.”
But it might be a lot simpler than that. The racial story in America might not be told so much by “offhand comments” as by real measurable demographic data. While seeking a Senate seat from New York after her husband left the presidency, Clinton chose to purchase a house in Chappaqua — a lovely, leafy suburb in Westchester County, NY. Chappaqua is 30 miles from Harlem. According to 2010 census data, just 1.95% of Chappaqua residents were African American. It’s a factor whether they make cruel jokes or not.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 20, 2015
