“That is the only issue that almost ended this country. … We’ve had a lot challenges in this country, but the one that actually almost ended this country in the Civil War was white supremacy,” Buttigieg told the network in Iowa.

“It could be the lurking issue that ends this country in the future, if we don’t wrangle it down in our time,” he added.

“The entire American experiment is at stake in whether we can manage to deliver prosperity in a way that your race has no bearing on your income, your wealth, your employment opportunities, your experience with criminal justice [and] your ability to vote,” he added.

“We’re just not there and we won’t get there until we acknowledge that replacing a racist historical structure with a more neutral current one is not enough,” he said, according to ABC News.