Psst, it still is race, e.g. racial quotas, phony BS about more churches will burn, exploiting James Byrd's murder to yap about not passing hate crimes laws, equating conservatives to Nazis, voter disenfranchisement in Florida 2000, etc. This stuff is continuing.
Hugh Hewitt says the base of our party is the party of faith; for the Democrats, the base is the party of race.