Biden’s cult of diversity by Don Frost

By Don Frost

            It doesn’t seem so long ago that when a newly elected president announced the candidates who would form his administration their qualifications were front and center in national concern. Times have changed.

            In 2020 qualifications are of minor importance. Of course all candidates are touted by this President-elect, Joe Biden, and “liberal” pundits in the press as incredibly qualified, competent, gifted, skilled, blah, blah, blah. But it is obvious that Biden has other “qualifications” in mind as he goes about selecting his team; qualities he considers more important than an ability to do their jobs. With the announcement of each new proposed or confirmed appointment, skin color, gender, and ethnic origins are guiding his choices.

            Kamala Harris. Even before Biden’s election his choice for vice president was the epitome of Orwellian Right Think, aka political correctness. Harris gives Biden a double whammy in “liberal” approval: She’s black and female, making her the first to hold the post. Of course, she’s eminently qualified.

            Xavier Becerra, Biden’s choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, would be, most significantly, the first Latino to hold the job. Of course, he’s eminently qualified.

            Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin was tapped by Biden for the post of Secretary of Defense. He retired with four stars on his shoulders, but more significantly, he would be the first black man to hold the post. Of course, he’s eminently qualified.

            In this regard Biden disappointed some in his camp who wanted him to appoint a woman. But he couldn’t please both factions in his party, so he settled for succumbing to only the racial faction.

            Janet Yellen would be the first woman to head the Department of the Treasury. Of course, she’s eminently qualified.

            Wally Adeyemo would be the first black deputy treasury secretary. Eminently qualified, of course.

            Rep. Marcia Fudge is reportedly Biden’s choice for secretary of HUD (Housing and Urban Development). She is female and black – and eminently qualified.

            Cecilia Rouse would be the first black woman to head the Council of Economic Advisors. Of course, she, too, is eminently qualified.

            Neera Tanden would be director of the Office of Management and Budget, the first South Asian-American in that post. Eminently qualified, of course.

            Susan Rice is named director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. She’s female, black, and eminently qualified.

            Katherine Tai is nominated as U.S. trade representative. Besides being eminently qualified, she’s female and traces her ancestry to Taiwan.

            Biden escapes the stigma of being a male WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) in his inner circle because he considers himself Catholic. Still, his choice for secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Denis McDonough, a white man; and Tom Vilsack, another white man, as Secretary of Agriculture, begin to look like tokens.

            In years past it rightfully seemed strange – unbelievably odd – that only white men possessed the qualities needed to form a presidential administration. Today it rightfully seems strange – unbelievably odd – that only women and men of various ethnic and racial groups possess the qualities to form a presidential administration. As things are shaping up, when all is said and done Biden’s inner circle will be strikingly devoid of white men, the last minority in America that it is legally and socially acceptable to mock, insult, and ridicule.

            Many of his picks so far show that Biden endorses a concept that first appeared during the presidency of Barack Obama. “Diversity,” Obama called it, and it instantly became an article of faith in the dogma of the Democratic Party, “liberals,” the press, and others on the Left. But as diversity – the root of tribalism – gained impetus under his tutelage, two other “D” words reared their ugly heads: Division and divisiveness.

            We’re no longer united as Americans and “assimilation” has become a dirty word. We’re hyphenated. We’re Irish-Americans; Italian-Americans; African-Americans; Asian-Americans; Hispanic-Americans; Polish-Americans and on and on. We no longer recognize and celebrate our similarities. Now we are encouraged to emphasize our differences, our divisions, and that cannot help but result in divisiveness. Diversity, we are urged to accept – without evidence – is in and of itself a good thing.

            How in heaven’s name can our country – any country – achieve unity if differences are celebrated over similarities, over unity? The American cult of diversity can be summed up as “separate, but equal.” Have we forgotten already the turmoil the nation suffered when the doctrine of “separate, but equal” was applied to the black and white races?

            “Those who would forget history are condemned to relive it.”: George Santayana, philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist.

Don Frost blogs at www.Commonsense931.wordpress.com.