Scandal is all about patriotism . “The Republic,” and what’s best for it, is always the bottom line for Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), her gladiators, and lovers in politics. But the United States of America is far perfect, and the country found itself plagued by social issues. And, despite creating the most obvious opportunities to talk about one of the country’s biggest problems — a Black woman in a high position of political power sleeping with just as powerful white men is a great entryway to a conversation about racism — Scandal has played pretty coy on the subject. There have been passing scenes where a line or two was dedicated to calling out racial microaggressions or commenting on it in a broader sense. But racism hasn’t really been embedded into the DNA of any of Scandal’s characters, which feels like an oversight given the realities of being a Black American. Thursday night’s episod e seemed to finally make the effort.