Racism and sexism endure. Think of the “Unite the Right” white supremacist, neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. But sometimes unexpected voices fan the flames.
As the civil rights movement gathered steam, colorblindness was the endgame. Ballots could not identify candidates by race. Employers could not ask for the racial identities of applicants. As success approached, the Democratic Party was terrified of losing a wedge issue. (A greater percentage of Republicans in Congress voted for the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act than did Democrats.)
Democrats thus changed the game from colorblindness to racial or gender preferences for nonvictims of discrimination. Even as the U.S. Supreme Court embraced colorblindness as a constitutional imperative, the Democratic Party continued marching in an opposite direction.
Former President Barack Obama, at…
