Beware the Party of Acceptable Racism

During the 2008 presidential election season, many people expressed interest in supporting Barack Obama because they wanted to “make history” by voting in the first black man to occupy the Oval Office. This sentiment set off a wave of enthusiasm that propelled Obama into the White House.

But, let’s face it: Voting for someone based on their skin color was (and is) flat-out racist.

Consider how well Obama would have fared in the primaries that election season if he had been white. Hillary Clinton would have been running against six white guys instead of five. Then Obama would have had to defend his dismal record as a senator — a candidate who later told entrepreneurs and businesspeople they couldn’t have accomplished anything without the help of the government. Obama was certainly a you-didn’t-build-that senator, accomplishing little or nothing in his few years in that role.

In many ways, Obama became this country’s very first DEI hire. (Some have pointed out that DEI stands for “Didn’t Earn It,” and that certainly seems to apply here.) The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned us 60 years ago that we should judge a person based on the content of their character, not the color of their skin. But, here we are doing the opposite. […]

— Read More: stream.org