For all of humanity, pitting some against an 'other' has been a classic power play. Race is an issue that can easily motivate a population, which is why race, along with religion, is considered a 'wedge' issue--or an issue that can easily divide a population. Any tool one can use to easily divide and motivate a population is a powerful political tool.
An important question to ask when examining political manipulation of race is: who benefits from political actions based on race? In race manipulation, the political actions and benefits are taken by elites to entrench their own power vs. protect or defend some racial segment of the population (though protect and defend might be the public message and rallying call).
How does race play out in American politics? Wedge issues teeter on a conspicuous fulcrum: in group vs. outgroup--us vs. them. Unfortunately, human proclivity to form groups as a means of security, and to fear 'others' make 'The People' an easy target for us vs. them manipulation.
Good Party vs. Bad Party
Everyone knows the racist party in America, right? Conservatives, of course. How do we know this? Democrats are sure to tell us. We can bunch several other characterizations into the term 'conservative' including white, southern, and man. And all of these characterizations are equally drawn to the label of 'racist'. It is an image that is so ingrained in the US, it seems nothing to treat an 'old white man' (or even a young one these days) as a symbol for racial hate, or infer racism in a southern drawl.
What do these characterizations do for the issue? Is it helpful, or even true, to tie the evils of racism to these groups? Who benefits? Democrats benefit, as they become the 'safe' place for 'non-whites', and an only haven of protection.
You won't have to google long to find that the Democrats, in fact, are not effective in reducing racial disparities, despite all of their savior posturing.
