In the 2008 election, Barack Obama received widespread support from people who wanted to “make history” by voting for the first black president. This sentiment created a wave of enthusiasm that carried Obama to the White House.
But let's face it: voting for someone based on the color of their skin was and still is totally racist.
In our choices for 2024, we must not repeat the mistakes of acceptable racism made in 2008.
Imagine how differently the primaries would have gone if Obama had been white. Hillary Clinton would have faced six white candidates instead of five. Obama would have had to defend his poor performance as a senator from Illinois, which included his infamous “you didn't build it” comment, rejecting the idea that people can succeed without government help. Obama's little accomplishment during his short tenure as a senator reflects his belief in reliance on government over personal achievement.
In many ways, President Obama was America's first DEI president. Some have pointed out that DEI stands for “didn't earn it.” That moniker certainly seems to apply here. Sixty years ago, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. warned us that we should judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. We've come a long way, but we've also come a long way.
The ideas of diversity, equity, and inclusion are the very epitome of racism. They fundamentally transformed America, and we now celebrate every letter of that acronym.
Let's think about “E”.
In her first (and likely last) interview on CNN as the Democratic presidential candidate last month, Kamala Harris said: love DEI — specifically, the “E” stands for “Equality,” she said. But no! The “E” stands for Equity, which is the exact opposite of equality.
If two students in the same class take a math test and one gets an A and the other gets a D, they both have the same opportunity to complete the test and demonstrate their knowledge. However, when fairness is applied, they both have the potential to receive an A or a D, so that regardless of how well they performed, they are both at the same level.
Another way to maintain fairness would be to give both students a C+ and take the average of the two scores. In this scenario, neither effort nor result is important.
It’s as if the “participation trophies” of old have evolved into the fair achievements of today.
But what about the “D” and the “I” – diversity and inclusion?
For example, imagine you are being wheeled onto a gurney into the operating room for open-heart surgery. You are lightly sedated at this point and you look up to see a nurse walking beside you, a reassuring smile on her face.
“Is my surgeon good?” you ask.
And the nurse looked down and said, “Oh, don't worry. She knows a lot about diversity and inclusion.”
When affirmative action was introduced in the late 1960s, people raised the same concern: Did professionals in highly skilled fields like medicine, law, and electronics get their positions on merit, or were they chosen over more qualified candidates to make a company or organization look more “glamorous”?
This kind of accepted racism leads to more racial divisions, not less.
Race was shoehorned into the questions during Tuesday's debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Trump's response to a question about whether Harris is Indian or black made clear his position on race: He denied that Harris had changed her racial identity and said he didn't care what she identified as and would embrace whatever she chose to be.
In her rebuttal, Harris sought to portray Trump as a racial divisive figure, but this is clearly a racist view as the left wing of the Democratic Party routinely bases its judgements on race.
The left has dominated the debate on race. In my book,The obvious: Recognize the evil we see and take action against it.” highlights how conservatives often use euphemisms to soften their criticism of the left on racial issues. For example, they might call Al Sharpton a racist. From the book:
[But] Being a “racism hustler” means you outwit your target and they fall for your plan. The focus is shifted from you to the person who was tricked and outmaneuvered. Being a “racism instigator” is the same. Your opponent is lured into your trap and fooled again. And the person who “plays the racism card” has beaten you to it with their own methods. The hustler, instigator, and card player ends up making a good impression and the person who was tricked ends up making a bad impression.
These phrases were invented by the left for conservatives and centrists to label people on the left. Have these phrases ever been used to describe anyone on the right? No. People on the right are always called “racists.” Whether they are racist or not is not the point.
When choosing in 2024, we cannot repeat the mistake of acceptable racism made in 2008. Kamala Harris has accomplished nothing and remains an empty pantsuit. So what are the Democrats relying on? Race.
Heading into November 5, Democrats will likely push a narrative that makes history again by voting for a black woman president as a key element.
There's nothing they can do about it, they are the party of acceptable racism.
