CHARLESTON, S.C. — Sitting among women who lost their children to violence, Hillary Clinton made a powerful pitch for all Americans to take systemic racism seriously, in a final sprint for black votes ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary.

"Something is very wrong when we have these incidents where kids can get arrested for petty crimes and lose their lives,” Clinton said. “Something is wrong when African Americans are three times more likely to be denied a mortgage as white people are, when the median wealth of black families is just a fraction of the median wealth for white families, Clinton said.

She also had a message specifically for white Americans, calling on them to show more empathy for the problems plaguing black communities across America.

"Tackling and ending systemic racism requires contributions from all of us. White Americans, we need to do a better job of listening when African Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers they face every day," Clinton said. "We need to recognize our privilege and practice humility rather than assume our experiences are everyone's experiences."

Clinton spoke at Central Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C. joined on stage by five mothers affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly. Clinton and Democratic rival Bernie Sanders are both seeking the votes of black voters ahead of South Carolina's Feb. 27 Democratic primary. Black voters here are expected to make up about half of the Democratic primary electorate.

Clinton introduced the women, calling them "the mothers of the movement, who have suffered as no mother ever should."

“That’s too many deaths, too many young lives cut short, too many questions still unanswered,” Clinton said, after introducing each mother.

The five mothers praised Clinton for spending time listening to their stories, learning about their children and said they back her plans to remake the American criminal justice system.

The women joined Clinton on the campaign trail as a group here for the first time, but they campaigned for Clinton around the state on Monday and Tuesday.

"When we met with her, she walked in as a secretary, she walked in as a political figure, she walked in as a presidential candidate," Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, said. "But she walked out as a compassionate mother, as a compassionate grandmother, as a compassionate wife."

"When no other candidate would listen to us, Ms. Clinton did," Fulton said.

"She is the one for us," Gwen Carr, whose son Eric Garner was killed when a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold in 2014, said of Clinton. "She will stand with us. She will be with us...I endorse her because she endorsed us first."