The Supreme Court’s recent decision on affirmative action was a blow to the “equity-industrial complex” and Ibram X. Kendi, the best-selling author who is one of its key architects. The concurring opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas was a full-throated rebuke of Kendi, his supporters, and the institutions that promote “equity” in ways that rob black people of agency and dignity.
The belief that black Americans need different rules and standards than other groups because of historical oppression and current discrimination is the silent “separate but equal” doctrine of the modern left. It is also the raw material powering the equity-industrial complex seen in the explosion of “diversity, inclusion, and equity” bureaucracies in universities, government, media, and corporate America.
Kendi’s views on race and outcomes are straightforward: “Individual behaviors can shape the success of individuals. But policies determine the success of groups. And it is racist power that creates the policies that cause racial inequities.”
While Kendi struggles to define “racism,” he believes discrimination is a good thing — as long as it is “anti-racist” — and he approves of its outcomes. This idea is reflected in his proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kendi also recommends creating a federal Department of Anti-racism made up of “formally trained experts on racism” empowered to punish policymakers who do not adhere to his vision of racial equity.
Kendi’s amendment has never been proposed in Congress, but he does have some very powerful advocates in federal office.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is 12 years
