Ms. Angle, who is running with Tea Party support against the Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid, made the comments at Rancho High School in Las Vegas, to the Hispanic Students Union. Her sentiments, not the first unorthodox statements she has made, have thrust activists, experts and bloggers into a conversation about race in a campaign season that has been far more about mortgages than minorities.

"Race has not played much of a role," and is beginning to only now, said Andrew J. Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University. "In past economic downturns, it was common for economically troubled whites to blame minority groups for their problems. In this great recession, everyone is blaming the government and Wall Street."

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