PrintJune 4, 2009
Obama to End Affirmative Action?
In his much anticipated speech in Cairo on Thursday, Barack Obama signaled his willingness to consider scrapping the entire divisive edifice of affirmative action in America. While discussing the record of “human history” as one in which groups of people have subjugated “one another in pursuit of their own interests” Obama sought to rectify this legacy of conflict and hostility by underscoring our interdependence:
“Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail.”
In the spirit of hope and change then, it appears that Obama has finally announced his desire to bury once and for all one of the main causes of American disunity – elevating some groups over others based on racist criteria. This is welcome news, especially for those of us who were concerned about Mr. Obama’s commitment to American success.
Since in his words elevating one group over another will surely lead to failure, we can expect Mr. Obama in the next few days to rescind his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. We also eagerly await the promotion of eighteen white firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut to higher ranks based on their test scores.
In short, a new era of cooperation and interdependence is gleaming over the American horizon. By measuring Americans impartially and through common standards, citizens of all colors will again come to regard themselves as “Americans” first and secondly as members of competing groups. For as Mr. Obama stressed in his Cairo speech:
“So no matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who would hold power.”
Thank you Mr. President. I am off to tell my kids that it really is true: in America they will be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. It’s the start of a new jubilee in this great country.
In my family we’re taking another look at the Democrat Party.
