It is understandable that some members of groups that have endured historical discrimination might want their turn in a favored position, with government preferences benefiting them to the exclusion of others, but civil rights law is clear: preferences based on immutable characteristics are anathema to a free and fair society. Better policy would focus on goals with broad benefits—reducing air pollution, increasing participation in the public school system, assisting those in poverty—that are not grounded in group identity. Supporting discrimination, depending on which group is favored, is a dangerous proposition. Few Americans want to live in Ibram Kendi’s dystopian world, in which “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination” and “the only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” Few Americans want a government that discriminates.
[Nevertheless, it persists. And we really do need to ask why. It is in service to building a totalitarian government that redistributes public and private groups on the basis of grievance ranking. — Ed]
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