The term “Affirmative Action” was first used in 1961 in an executive order by President John F. Kennedy. Since that time, the term — which originally included race, religion or national origin –has been expanded to cover gender and sexual origination. Intended to give equal opportunities to designated minorities by the general population, the term has been hotly debated. We now have positive proof that not only is using this policy ineffective, but it is harmful.
When someone gets a position solely because of their gender or race, it can be harmful to people who earn their positions based on the merit of their skills regardless of their gender or race. It can be particularly harmful to everyone else.
In Hollywood, affirmative action is in full bloom. In a lengthy article in The Hollywood Reporter, a column Hollywood’s New Rules makes clear if you are white and male today do not bother applying for a job. Supporting the thesis of the article, more than a few people have told me they were either aced out of a position to have a designated minority fill the post or they just are not considered for acting positions as someone who is of a favored group gets the job.
Yet, that is not the unequivocal proof of the policy’s failure. That proof comes in the person of our Vice-President Kamala Harris. Ms. Harris is the best example (and the single worst example in history) that promoting someone based on race or gender or both is clearly wrong and, in this case, dangerous.
Someone might say I am picking on Ms. Harris, but it is not me. Her own party rejected her. When she declared she was running for President it was with great fanfare. The Leftist press wanted her to succeed because of her being, yes — you guessed it, black and female. No stories were told of how she operated her office or what her accomplishments were other than being a U. S. Senator. Having been Attorney General of California, she supposedly would be a law-and-order candidate. That was based on her not being nuts like some of the DA’s currently in elected office across the country. Low bar to jump.
We all know what happened to that campaign. She tanked. She tanked historically. Her own party rejected her long before an official primary or caucus vote was taken. Even in her home state of California she was floundering in the polls.
What then brought her to this resurrection? A lame presidential candidate who has no courage of his convictions. Just as he has run his presidency by appeasing special interest groups and the Left of his party, this insecure man chose a vice-presidential candidate with total disregard for whether she was in any way qualified if his body and/or mind failed.
Biden was so unsure of his own candidacy that, despite running against a candidate the members of his party hated and during the middle of an international pandemic, he cowered and made the affirmative action choice. Did he really believe black women would not otherwise vote for him to get rid of Trump?
Biden, who wanted in his mind to advance the case for blacks and women, has only retarded it. Let’s face it, Harris is a national joke and embarrassment. Her office is a mess because she is a terrible manager which stems for her being a terrible person. What is meant by that?
Individuals who are great people and great managers do not have staff walking around telling how atrocious they are to everyone. I recently spoke to a chef who was a high-level assistant chef to Thomas Keller of The French Laundry fame. The restaurant is made fun of these days because of the inglorious Gavin Newsom’s antics, but it is a world class restaurant, and the rest of his restaurants are great even if they are aimed at a less affluent clientele. When I made a glowing comment about Keller, the chef enthusiastically said, “He is the real deal.” That meant he is not only an extremely talented chef, but someone wonderful to work for and with. Try and find someone saying things like that about Harris.
Leslie Marshall, a democrat operative who often appears on Fox News as a commentator, was put in the unenviable position of defending Harris. On a national TV show, she was unwilling to criticize Harris and face the fallout. Marshall said part of Harris’ problem was sexism, part of it was racism and part of it was the assignments Biden gave her. Otherwise, none of it was because the people of America have found she has the same appeal that the Democrat primary voters found. As the songs say by Elvis Costello and The Weeknd – less than zero.
The entire matter is so sordid. Harris is a national embarrassment. It is frightening to think of her being sent to meet with foreign leaders. How they must think our country has fallen. As I said previously, as helpless as Biden appears so often, we are left kneeling at our bedsides like children praying he makes it through his four years. The alternative is reprehensible and has set back that cause of blacks and women for a long, long time.
Now Biden is apparently going to repeat the mistake because of his campaign promise that he would only consider two factors in the next U.S. Supreme Court justice – that she be black and female. That is going to be a great introduction for her to the country. Joe Biden strikes again.