Although Wyoming Democrats are mad because Rep. Hageman called Kamala Harris a 'DEI hire,' Hageman said, “If you don’t want people to say she was hired only because she’s a black woman, then maybe Biden shouldn’t have said he was only gonna hire a black woman.”
Kind of a fair point, right? It’s not slandering her to point out that that was the condition her employer clearly stated was his criterion. If diversity hiring were improving things as advertised, people would be proud to be diversity hires. As it is, the chief advocates of the practice are generally outraged if you suggest they are one themselves.
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Bicen dixit. Joe Biden says he’d prefer a running mate who is ‘of color and/or a different gender’ Analysis by Eugene Scott
August 28, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Former vice president Joe Biden has been leading the Democratic field in most polls since he entered the race, but even he acknowledges that he’s a long way from winning the nomination. If he does, Biden said it would be ideal for his ticket to reflect the diversity of the American population.
The presidential hopeful told a small group of black journalists Tuesday that if he wins the nomination, he’d prefer that his vice presidential candidate not be a white male.
Asked by Washington Post reporter Vanessa Williams whether it would be important to him to select a running mate who reflects diversity, Biden replied: “Whomever I pick, preferably it will be someone who was of color and/or a different gender, but I’m not making that commitment until I know that the person I’m dealing with I can completely and thoroughly trust as authentic and on the same page [as me].”
NYT: How Biden Chose Harris: A Search That Forged New Stars, Friends and Rivalries
……Harry Reid, the former Senate majority leader, said race had been essential to Mr. Biden’s decision.
“I think he came to the conclusion that he should pick a Black woman,” Mr. Reid said. “They are our most loyal voters and I think that the Black women of America deserved a Black vice-presidential candidate.”…..
By July, Mr. Biden and his team were converging on a theory of his decision, if not yet an actual vice-presidential pick.
There was broad agreement among his advisers that Mr. Biden should choose a woman of color, though Mr. Biden remained drawn to both Ms. Whitmer and Ms. Warren.
RealClearPolitics:President Biden: "Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion" Are "The Core Strengths Of America," "And It Starts At The Top With The Vice President"
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: They’re trying to erase Black history. We’re going to write Black history because it’s American history.
It’s American history. Together, we make history, not erase it.
To me, the values of diversity, equality, inclusion are literally — and this is not kidding — the core strengths of America. That’s why I’m proud to have the most diverse administration in history that taps into the full talents of our country. And it starts at the top with the Vice President.
On Memorial Day, I proudly stood with a Black man — the highest order — the first Black Secretary of Defense; second Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Black woman heads of military units who are overseeing the most diverse, strongest fighting force in the history of the world.
Candidate Biden also committed to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, should an opening appear during his term.
DEI--racism and sexism--is what Biden does. Yet Harris seems to be running away from her status as proud and vaunted DEI hire.
Eric Hines
Not that there aren't some well-qualified black female candidates, though all the ones that pop into my mind are conservative.
Biden's problem was over-constrained. The candidate has to be black and female, but also must have crazed politics and, frankly, it would be best if she's an ineffectual ninny, because he didn't need the contrast with some kind of liberal clone of Condoleezza Rice. It was pretty much the same when Obama chose a reassuring older white man for his running mate.
If by some miracle he'd managed to choose an impressive black female running mate, despite all these restraints, we wouldn't be hearing nearly so much "DEI hire" talk, even though technically it still would have been a DEI hire because of the explicit quota mindset.
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