I (and many others) have argued for years that it’s time to move away from race-based criteria for affirmative action and socio-economic policy, and move instead to class-based criteria. Such a shift would not only focus attention on the most significant drivers of inequality; it would spare us the divisive arguments over preferential treatment that have kept us from coming to grips with class inequities. As the United States becomes more diverse, race-based treatment breeds justifiable resentment and makes less and less sense: with dozens of ethnicities and tens of millions of people of mixed descent, categorizing Americans according to vague notions of race is becoming increasingly useless from a policy perspective.
Fortunately, President Obama seems intent on moving us in a more rational direction. In his press conference this past week, when asked about efforts to assist black Americans in these trying economic times, Obama quickly shifted the focus to programs targeted at economic distress. He rightly pointed out that such programs, by definition, disproportionately help black communities that have above-average numbers of people hit hard by the recession. By creating programs that help society’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged, and by keeping race out of the equation, we target the right people and avoid the slippery slope of race-based politics.
Throughout the campaign, Obama did a masterful job of making it a contest about issues and minimizing the role of race; in the first 100 days of his presidency, he has continued to do the same. His historic victory, coupled with his approach to racial issues, seems to be having a profound effect on American opinions about race and racial equality. The New York Times reported last week that the percentage of people who now think racial relations are good has more than doubled in the past three months, including large numbers of blacks.
Having a black family in the White House, including a high-powered and accomplished First Lady and two well-adjusted and adorable children, is a symbol the power of which cannot be overestimated. Coupled with President Obama’s approach to racial issues, the country is poised to make tremendous strides by focusing more attention on the class divisions that plague American society, and less on the racial ones (which, while still potent, are losing their resonance).
Jason Scorse