Obama's Race-Based Spoils System

by Patrick J. Buchanan - August 26th, 2011 - Human Events

Chester Arthur​ was a most unlikely reformer.

A crucial cog in the political machine of the Empire State's Sen. Roscoe Conkling, he was named by President Grant to the powerful and lucrative post of collector of customs for the Port of New York.

Arthur was removed in 1878 by President Rutherford B. Hayes, who wanted to clean up the federal patronage system. But when James Garfield of Ohio was nominated to succeed Hayes, he sought to unite his party by picking the Stalwart Arthur as running mate.

Six months into the new administration, a deranged office-seeker shot Garfield. Arthur was president. And in a dramatic turnabout, he became the president forever associated with civil service reform, converting the U.S. government into a meritocracy where individuals were hired based upon examinations and advanced based upon merit.

In our time, however, Arthur's achievement has been undone, as a racial spoils system in federal hiring and promotions has been imposed by Democratic presidents, unresisted by Republicans who rarely exhibit the courage to stand up for their principles when the subject is race.

A week ago, an item buried in The Washington Post reported that Obama had "issued an executive order requiring government agencies to develop plans for improving federal workforce diversity."

This is insanity. With the 13.5% of our population who are black already holding over 18% of the federal jobs, it is arrogance for a black person to destroy "equal justice under the law" ever further by demanding ever greater black representation in organizations that are clearly not suffering from racism.

As an important example of the consequences, the department that presided over the housing debacle that created our current recession is 38% black. It was this department's racist demand, encouraged by the heavily black over representation among its employees, that banks loan to unqualified blacks. This triggered the housing collapse.

Does Obama feel that it is necessary to increase the excessive number of blacks even further? How many federal jobs would blacks have to garner before Obama would accept that this 13.5% of our population had reached its fair share if 18% is not enough? Would the 55% share (which incredibly already exists in the Government Office of Printing) be his goal, or is even that not sufficient to meet his racist demands?

This race bias must end. Affirmative action has long since exceeded its rational justification. A continuance of this abuse will lead to a race war that 13.5% of our nation cannot win. Our Constitution demands equal justice under the law. It is time to end black racism and return to that principle.