When I read that sentence, I get a felt that this sentence is incorrect and must be in present simple tense, because it's point to a "habit" in the US, on the other hand, I thought a little about that, and I suppose that writer knows what he is doing, and he used the present perfect to tell that the race is being mattered up to now and it could be changed. Is my second conclusion valid? and if it's not why using present perfect in that sentence?

When I read that sentence, I get a feeling that this sentence is incorrect and must be in present simple tense, because it points to a "habit" in the US.

On the other hand, I thought a little about that, and I suppose that the writer knows what he is doing, and he used the present perfect to tell that race mattered up to now and it could be changed. 

Is my second conclusion valid? and if it's not why using present perfect in that sentence?