Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. I’d like to talk about a more sensitive topic today, and that’s this new appearance or this growing—I would call it—reverse racism or racism among some left-wing elite black leaders, politicians, celebrities. I’ll give you a few examples.
Not long ago Susan Rice, the former top official in the Obama administration, was removed from the Defense Policy Board. That’s a group of grandees that advise the Defense Department. They’re political appointments. And traditionally, when a new president comes in, they get rid of most of the prior Defense Policy Board because they feel they’re partisans.
And in the case of Susan Rice, she was appointed in a late appointment by then-President Joe Biden, who pretty much wiped out all of the Trump appointments. So, her dismissal by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was not unusual.
And yet, she fired back at him and said he was dumb as a rock and ultra-MAGA. But what was interesting, she said, “white male, cisgender.” In other words, she attacked his race. And she said her administration would’ve fired him for the Signal chat scandal. But of course, she was the one that came out on Sunday talk shows and lied five times about the disaster in Benghazi, among other things later in her career. But why inject race into it?
At almost the same period, we had a number of Afrikaners—I should say a very small number, about 60 people—asked for refugee status, felt they had been endangered by black-on-white violence, which is demonstrable and beyond controversy in South Africa. And President Donald Trump allowed them to come in as refugees. And of course, during the prior administration, thousands of people came in as refugees. But because, apparently, they were white, this caused a storm of criticism.
The Episcopalian Church said they would no longer help with refugees because this was racist. Don Lemon went on a profanity-ridden rant about how this is horrible that these white people were coming in, this is disgusting, you shouldn’t be able to do that.
Not too long ago, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, talked about how the party might have to nominate “white boys.” Using that “boy,” that’s sort of a deprecatory term that has racial implications. Remember Joe Biden called two of his aides who are African American “boy.” That’s a very prejudicial term to use. And yet, she was using it in the reverse fashion for so-called whites.
And at the same time she was doing this, another tape surfaced from Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., where she said white men were the most likely terrorists and killers in America. That’s demonstrably untrue.
So, what am I getting at? I’m getting at the elite—the elite in politics and celebrities—are using this idea of white, white, white, white in a prejudicial manner. It’s very ironic because it’s exactly what we were evolving away from in pursuit of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “content of our character, not color of our skin.” And apparently, they believe because they’re African Americans or they’re left-wing that it’s OK to stigmatize somebody by their race. But of course, it’s not.
And here’s my point about this entire discussion. Lately, the Rasmussen polls—who have been very accurate, they were in the 2024 election and they are now—they surveyed the first 100 days of the Trump administration. And they found that—contrary to most of what, candidly, are left-wing polls—that Donald Trump had a positive appraisal by most people.
But here’s my point. Sixty-two percent of those who were surveyed that were Hispanic expressed approval. African Americans were about 39%. And Hispanics were higher than whites.
So, what am I getting at? You have two centrifugal forces at a time when African Americans and Hispanics are considering economics, cost of living, real issues, and they consider them more important than their superficial appearance.
You have a panicky elite on the Left, who, let’s be candid, they have been the primary beneficiaries of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Diversity, equity, and inclusion did not help the inner city. It didn’t stop the crime rate. It didn’t increase the per capita income. It did help a professional class.
But my point is this, while the professional class is obsessed with race and chasing white racist unicorns, the majority of the Hispanic community and a near majority of the black community have moved beyond the elite.
This is gonna have political repercussions in the future because the Democratic Party, the more they pound this tired, weary racial mantra, the more their constituents—they think they’re appealing to—are moving on.
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