As head of the Department of Justice the Attorney General is responsible for ensuring justice for all citizens. Trump nominee Jeff Sessions has a history of racially hostile remarks, and positions on women's rights, LBGT rights, capital punishment, and presidential authority that have been opposed by the ACLU and other civil rights organizations.

During the Reagan administration, the Senate rejected Sessions for a federal judgeship for making racist statements and falsely prosecuting black political activists in Alabama.

"Throughout history, there are many examples of how the racism of white voters has been mobilized to favor a candidate for president," wrote Think Progress's Casey Quinlan the morning after the election. Quinlan cited particularly the candidacy of Barry Goldwater, and Richard Nixon's "southern strategy," which "took advantage of white people’s anxieties about the economic and social advancement of people of color."

Despite a persistent tendency on the part of mainstream media to omit the racial component and highlight economic anxiety of a so-called "working class," research and analysis has shown that this is inadequate. A Gallup study of 87,000 interviews conducted over the past year found that Trump supporters "on average, do not have lower incomes than other Americans, nor are they more likely to be unemployed." 

Among those who are similar in terms of income, education and other factors, those who view Trump favorably are more likely to be found in white enclaves — racially isolated Zip codes where the amount of diversity is lower than in surrounding areas.

In fact, as a number of studies showed, racial resentment correlated strongly with voters' support for Trump.