by Carl Noller
People have been coming to America for centuries, many of them drawn by the opportunities this country offered. It was less who you knew or who you could bribe and more what you knew. Martin Luther King may have put it best when he encouraged us to judge others by the content of character, rather than skin color. Recently, however, Democrats have been telling us that this is all wrong — that race is the critical factor. Diversity, as a social goal, trumps all others.
We have been electing Democrats in recent years, and, not surprisingly, they have begun implementing that vision, which inflames racial tensions. This can be seen very clearly with the changes in admissions criteria at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, ranked the best high school in the nation. The School Board deemed the Fairfax County high school too Asian. The student body needed to be more “diverse,” more reflective of the community. The School Board engineered this under a revised admissions process, which eliminated the standardized admissions test, eliminated the $100 application fee, and reserved seats in the freshman class for the top 1.5 percent of applicants from every middle school in the county. The effect was noticeable and will increase over the next three classes before leveling off, as those chosen under the old rules graduate.
If you think this kind of racial gerrymandering is limited to Thomas Jefferson High School, you haven’t been paying attention. It has been a factor in congressional redistricting for almost 60 years, and in the awarding of government contracts and employment offers for almost as long. More recently, it has been extended to policing, criminal sentencing, and disciplining in public schools. The goal is to achieve “racial equity” — it certainly isn’t to reward good performance. If this is the kind of America you want, then keep voting for Democrats at the federal, state, and local levels—for they will give it to you.
The Republican Party rejects this kind of divisive, racist thinking. We want merit-based decision-making at all levels of government. The Republican Party of Fairfax County has specifically passed a resolution condemning what the School Board has done to applicants at Thomas Jefferson High School.
Carl Noller holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (C.F.A.). This column was adapted from the original appearing in The Bull Elephant. It is reposted here with permission.
