the Clintons have been incredibly proactive in not doing so. They have spent many years battling prejudice and racism. At the crossroads between raw ambition and civil rights, they have chosen the former because it is the easiest path.

That 'elitist' = uppity in the ears of some doesn't make their use of the word racist. It makes their use of the word opportunistic, it makes their use of the word hypocritical, it makes their use of the word the antithesis of everything they have worked their entire lives for. But I don't think it makes them racist.

The dog whistle belongs to us. Their use of it is political fair game. The folks you mention in the headline here truly believed in what has now become known as an unjust system of treatment for minorities. In their attempt to cling to that system, they each called openly for its maintenance. Hillary Clinton has not and will not. She wants to be President more than many people want life itself. She will dismiss us each and every one by category in the process, but she won't become a racist to get it - ONLY because this is the Democratic party and it won't fly.