NOTE: In my last blog, I wrote of President Biden’s botching of the Afghan withdrawal, relating it to his decades of foreign policy failures.  Since we are now getting 24/7 reporting on the situation in Afghanistan, I have decided to comment on another topic high on his agenda … equity.

Commentary

On President Biden’s first day in office, among that stack of executive orders on his desk was his policy outlining a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.

Equity was so important to the administration that just five months later, Biden signed another order advancing equity and accessibility in the federal government.

By supporting this policy, the media saw this as an opportunity to gain access to the White House.  NPR was quick to report that Biden had said he would make this a fixture of his presidency, quoting him saying, “It’s time to act because that’s what faith and morality call us to do,” while adding that it was not only the right thing to do, but it was good for the entire country.

These aren’t feel-good policies. The evidence is clear. Investing in equity is good for economic growth, and it creates jobs for all Americans.”

 – Susan Rice, Chair, Domestic Policy Council.

“No part of President Biden’s agenda has been as ambitious as his attempt to place concerns about equity squarely at the center of the federal government’s decision-making,” said the New York Times.

Even the exalted New England Journal of Medicine felt the need to comment, citing the new orders as opportunities “to implement lessons from health disparities research that target systemic racism.”

The Journal, however, views Biden’s equity agenda as somewhat contradictory, suggesting that minorities and the LGBTQ+ group have been ignored until now, which, of course, is not true.   

The George Soros-funded leftist Center for American Progress claims that the Biden administration heeded its calls for tackling equity by creating a whole-of-government equity agenda, citing it as a pivotal moment for racial justice in America.

Appearing to voice some skepticism, Rashad Robinson, president of the racial justice organization Color of Change, however, says the work ahead is to ensure that “equity doesn’t just show up in speeches, but it shows up in budgets.  That equity isn’t simply about restoring us back to policies from the Obama years, but about what its going to take to move us forward.”

Seemingly, the left-leaning Arizona Republic wasn’t so sure about the newsworthiness of this “equity” thing.  Buried in its August 18, 2021 edition was a story reporting that Lita Nadebah Beck joined the paper as its equity issues editor. Really? An editor to cover equity? The lead paragraph, however, said that she did so “in April,” five months ago.  Did an overseer at parent USA Today suggest the Republic get on board?

In a piece critical of the Biden order, Mike Gonzalez at Heritage, writes that “equity has now come to mean the functional opposite of equality, referred to 21 times in the order that didn’t once mention equality. Equality meaning equal treatment to all citizens, called for in the Constitution.

“President Biden preaches unity, but practices division,” says Gonzales, “requiring all federal agencies to ferret out any policy that may produce unequal outcomes among members of categories deemed marginalized.”

Leave it to the leftists in California to jump in on the equity issue with its “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction: Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction” document that sets out to eliminate the white supremacy culture in the mathematics classroom.

“The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, the manual explains. “Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuates objectivity”

“Apparently, that’s also racist,” commented Williamson M. Evers in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.

While “equity” and “equality” have been used interchangeably, “equality” in classrooms, with all students treated the same, with the same supplies, the same assignments and the same interaction with the teacher has been deemed to fall short with minorities.

“Equity,” it is said, strives to achieve the best outcome for each individual student, adjusting treatment of them accordingly.  Special curriculums are designed for the disadvantaged.  And in some states, ACT and SAT tests are no longer required for college admission.  Is “equity” the new affirmative action?

But the administrations interest in equity goes beyond education. There are plans for sweeping steps to address inequity in housing, criminal justice, voting rights, health care and economic mobility.  Biden’s desire to radically realign the distribution of federal money and benefits in favor of people of color and other underserved communities has already backfired on him.

A black woman, the owner of a small business in Madison, Wisconsin was told she would be receiving $50,000 courtesy of the president’s effort to provide pandemic relief for struggling restaurants and food business.

Just weeks later, she was informed that the award had been rescinded.  White restaurant owners challenged the president’s policy of prioritizing applications from women and people of color.

In another case, a federal judge in Florida ordered a halt to a program to forgive debts of Black and other minority farmers.  The judge wrote that Congress must “heed its obligation to do away with governmentally imposed discrimination based on race.”

Biden’s other programs, like the child tax credit and food stamps, are less vulnerable to legal challenge because they are considered race-neutral, even though they disproportionately benefit people of color.

Biden considers his focus on equity a moral imperative.  I find it difficult to take the beliefs of this corrupt president seriously.

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.