Recently I had an opportunity to attend a Denver Nuggets game at Ball Arena. It was the night before Martin Luther King Day which was the theme of the half-time celebration.
It was a moving event that celebrated a bigger than life figure that did so much for racial equality in America. More than that, King preached a non-violent approach to that goal, something that many youth of the time did not find appealing.
Yet, unlike many others in the Civil Rights Movement, his words and deeds became a pillar of hope and sustenance for millions of people seeking justice in this regard. His leadership also drove our political leaders, especially Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, to provide space in our national conversation for Black and other minorities to express their version of equality and opportunity derived from an even playing fields in our political and socio-economic life.
The Civil Rights agenda has taken the traditional American process of incremental change and has been largely successful in creating open dialogue and accommodation of ethnic and racial minority interests in national policy. In doing so however, the agenda has done its part to divide America.
Some days ago, I watched a program where an Asian commentator argued that Asian, African American and Latinos among others had the demographic substance to take over as a new majority if they only came together. The minority-majority concept has been around for a while and has been an increasing threat for those who believe that the country was founded by and for European-based leadership.
More than that, there is a major effort by the Trump administration to yank millions of mostly Brown immigrants off the streets of the nation and deport them for the sake of reducing the numbers of Latinos in the present and their children in the future.
Although the “horse is out of the barn” in that regard, it nevertheless is popular with those who see America First as having no room for Latinos at the top.
While civil rights tied to our evolving demographic reality is creating division in America, it can be classified in the words of former Congressman John Lewis as “good trouble.” What is not good are the expectations that go with the notions around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). DEI represents an incremental step away from Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action involved an effort to guarantee equal opportunity for minorities to compete especially in the world of work.
After Affirmative Action came an implementation policy centered around quotas that represented a step away from quality measures. DEI expands on the quota notion to the point that expectations on minority inclusion is a reality regardless of talent.
Going away from the notion of equal opportunity and an even playing field created an untenable favoritism. This together with the evolution of the minority-majority reality made the concept unfair.
There are also new developments that affect the Civil Rights agenda that were unexpected at its inception. Many in the majority are acting like minorities and insist on their civil rights.
What at one time was a backlash against the civil rights agenda in things like work and university admissions has now become even more. Many in the majority community are advocating for “White power” as minorities did in their civil rights movements.
The Civil Rights agenda is at a crossroads and needs a second look. For Latinos, this complex issue is colored by the fact that its immigrants have not looked at this in their own lives.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
