Race Factor in the US Presidential Politics: Elevating the Dialogue

This article argues that although the US has made significant gains in race relations, race still plays a major if not decisive role in who is elected president. Examining how the major candidates in the 1992 presidential election manipulated and exploited race and race-based issues to gain or not to lose votes, the paper posits that race relations and concomitant problems could improve if the racial dialogue is elevated to a new politically palatable discourse.