Is there a racist undertone to attitudes about the death penalty in the United States?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaMu7vYpkQY&w=600&h=315]

There has long been discussion about how the death penalty in America is quite possibly racist, and there's even been discussion about how there might be a gender bias (only 14 women have been executed since 1976). There's an element of these discussions not often covered, though, and that'…