Let that sink in. At a moment when hyper-partisan division poisons nearly everything in politics, Clarke has earned the respect and support of friend and foe alike. The civil rights division needs a problem solver at the helm because the challenges before us are still hard and are still in urgent need of solutions. And solving them is still a test of our national commitment to America’s civic ideals. ADVERTISEMENT America as a beacon of liberty and justice for all rings hollow when Black citizens live in mortal fear of a routine traffic stop, when Asian Americans live in fear of hate violence while out for a walk, or when anti-Semitism, religious intolerance and white supremacy present an unchecked threat to all of us.