Sept. 7: How racial change will affect election, country

David-DomkeSEATTLE – “Tectonic social change” means that the November U.S. presidential election will “define this nation for generations,” according to author David Domke. He will be the featured speaker at a sold-out annual lunch Sept. 7 for the William D. Ruckelshaus Center.

Jointly run by Washington State University Extension and the University of Washington, the center is a neutral resource for collaborative problem-solving in the state and Pacific Northwest.

“The United States is in a time of tectonic social change, comparable in transformation and turmoil to some of the most defining eras in the nation’s history,” Domke said in advance notes.

“At the heart of this moment are shifting racial patterns in America’s electorate,” he said. “The impact and implications are omnipresent, from the rise of the Tea Party on the political right to #blacklivesmatter and campus student activism on the left. In November, we will make a presidential choice that will define this nation for generations.”

Domke is chair of the UW Department of Communication.

The center is named for Ruckelshaus, who was head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and 1983-85. He was director of the FBI and U.S. attorney general. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in November 2015.