“I wish I could say that this all began with Donald Trump and will end with him, but it didn’t and I won’t. American history is not a fairy tale. The battle for the soul of the nation has been a constant push and pull for 243 years between the American ideal that says we’re all created equal and the harsh reality that racism has long torn us apart. The same document that promised to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity also allowed for slavery, and the so-called three fifths compromise that discounted the very humanity of black people in America at the time. The honest truth is both elements are part of the American character. At our best, the American ideal wins out, but it’s never a route. It’s always a fight and it’s a battle that has never fully finished.”