Clinton gives blunt talk on race where Obama tread lightly

Calls to tackle the problem of "systemic racism" have become a standard part of Clinton's campaign speech, followed by a long list of areas, like housing and health, where she says disparities are prevalent.

At an unusually emotional event Tuesday night in Columbia, South Carolina, Clinton sat beside five black mothers whose children were killed by gun violence and urged white voters to "practice humility" and "do a better job listening."

Clinton's frank language underscores how the conversation around race has shifted after seven years of the first black president, a period some critics say marked little progress on criminal justice abuses and black poverty.

[...] the Black Lives Matter movement, born out of the prominent police killings of blacks, has changed the political calculous for candidates, particularly in Southern states, said Frederick Harris, director of the Center on African-American Politics and Society at Columbia University.

He frequently decries a "broken" criminal justice system, unequal arrest rates for marijuana use, black poverty and the water crisis in Flint.

[...] race is a key piece of her message, which has shifted in recent weeks to focus on "breaking barriers" and expanding opportunities, a way for her to divert attention from questions about her trustworthiness and cast herself as an empathetic champion for struggling Americans.

For a lot of well-meaning, open-minded white people, the sight of a young black man in a hoodie still evokes a twinge of fear.