Writer and Academic - Cornel West

Around the world the election of Barack Obama to the White House was seen as a watershed moment for race relations in America. The first black man to be President was taken as the symbol of a new post-racial era, but six years on, with tensions between black communities and the police running sky high is anyone still talking about a post-racial America?

Hardtalk speaks to Cornel West, writer, academic and fierce critic of President Obama, and asks why the race debate turned sour.

Picture: Cornel West, Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty Images