as a viable actual candidate for the republican nomination has left the party reeling. there s also the surprise emergence of a narrative that republican and democratic candidates will have to contend with like it or not, race. and not just in the ways we ve become accustomed to talking about race during elections. this isn t race as a thinly veiled dog whistle or race as a talking point after a candidate s gaffe, and this isn t race as part of the obama era political analysis. no, this is the expectation that candidates running for the american presidency should have a meaningful policy response to systemic racism and the demand for racial justice. and it s a demand that has been most clearly, consistently and emphatically directed to the candidates by the black lives matter movement. now even before the summer of democratic candidate disruptions, candidate hillary clinton made racial justice and criminal justice reform the subject of her first major policy speech back in ap