During the last debate, race came up primarily during a policing conversation near the end of the debate — not sparked by the moderators but by a comment from Gov. Christie. In this economic-focused debate, there is plenty of room to talk about race and opportunity. There’s already been a vigorous pushback against financial regulations like Dodd-Frank tonight. What about regulations on mortgage lenders, several of whom faced tens or hundreds of millions in fines for race-based inequities in lending during the mortgage crisis? And then there’s the racial wealth gap, which has persisted throughout the years. In 2013, the median wealth of a white family was $130,102, versus $64,165 for an Asian-American family, $13,900 for a Hispanic family, and $11,184 for a black family. One way for the GOP to go for a big tent — after an election that so far has bruised chances with the Latino electorate in particular — might be to address the wealth gap head-on and propose some solutions to it.
