American politics in the 20th century were dominated by two different consensus positions on race and racism. For the first half of the century, the two parties tabled civil rights as an issue.White supremacy, whether Jim Crow in the South or ghettoization in the North, was left undisturbed. In the middle of the century, a combination of economic disadvantage, war, migration, and sustained destabilization toppled that agreement, leading to a liberal consensus on race and racism.