US Elections: Problems persist, but hope springs

US President-elect Joe Biden gestures to the crowd after he delivered remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 7. Picture: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

In a crystallising moment at the last US presidential debate, Donald Trump and Joe Biden fielded a question about people of colour who live alongside chemical plants and oil refineries that seem to be making them sick.

As is his way, Biden responded with I’ve-been-there empathy. He recalled growing up so close to Delaware refineries that when his mom drove him to school in a morning frost, the wipers spread an oil slick on the windshield.