I’m not old enough to remember the reign of former US President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ). I know more now about the man and his politics and the political situation of his time but his term in office was not in my recallable lifetime.
However I do know his reputation as one of the great reformers of US politics. Although not all of the reforms that he brought in might have had the results that they intended or had unintended negative consequences, his reputation as a key figure in post WWII US politics is difficult to argue with, whether you agree with him or not. Public service broadcasting, extended access to welfare, basic level public healthcare and a reckoning with racialism were key policies enacted by the Johnson administration.
One of the ways that the Johnson administration attempted to put right the undoubted racial injustices from America’s past was to bring in Affirmative Action. This prioritised Black Americans for employment, especially in areas where this group was traditionally under-represented because of negative racial attitudes from White Americans towards Black Americans.
It can be argued that at the time the situation with regards to racial division and race based unfairness in American society was so bad that something like Affirmative Action was needed. But things have changed greatly in American society. Racially, America is much more of an equal opportunity society than it used to be. It’s no longer the society of the 1930s where for example Black Jazz musicians could play on the stage of certain hotels but not stay at the hotel because the hotel was Whites only. America has moved beyond that. It is quite possible that a Black American could join the US Army today as a Private and rise to the rank of General because of their talent and not be held back by the colour of their skin.
Today Affirmative Action is not needed. In fact I’m coming to see it as a form of impediment to equality. It disadvantages White or other applicants for jobs and puts a stain on talented and hardworking Black Americans because people might still think that such people get their positions because of Affirmative Action and not because of their skills and work ethic.
But now, at the stroke of a pen, President Trump has undone the Executive Order made by LBJ that brought in Affirmative Action. No longer will one group of Americans be advantaged or disadvantaged over others because of the colour of their skin.
According to Christopher Rufo the free market writer and campaigner, the President has consigned Affirmative Action to the history books. Mr Rufo said on the X platform:
President Trump has signed an executive order rescinding Lyndon Johnson's EO 11246, which established affirmative action, and banning all federal contractors and publicly-funded universities from practicing race-based discrimination, including DEI. A massive shift.
This is indeed a massive cultural, political, social and civilisational shift for the USA. Affirmative Action was a policy that whilst probably useful at first has also outlived its usefulness. Removing Affirmative Action in my view makes real Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s dream of every American being judged by the content of their character and not the colour of their skin.