Race

Eugene Robinson writes about Condoleezza Rice:

She doesn't deny that race makes a difference. "We all look forward to the day when this country is race-blind, but it isn't yet," she told reporters in Birmingham. Later she added, "The fact that our society is not colorblind is a statement of fact."

But then why are the top echelons of her State Department almost entirely white? "That's an artifact of foreign policy," she said in the interview. "It's not been a very diverse profession." In other words, there aren't enough qualified minority candidates. I wondered how many times those words have been used as a lame excuse.

Why is that a lame excuse? Does Robinson know more about the foreign policy community than Rice? You know, I attend an international affairs graduate school here in D.C. and I believe there is a grand total of one black male in the student body. I think there are a few black females but I don't think they number more than 5. When I was an undergrad there wasn't a single black person in my international affairs graduating class. In high school we only had one black person participate in the school's model United Nations program.

If there were lots of qualified black candidates out there for foreign policy posts Robinson may have a point. But there aren't, and he doesn't.

Then we have this:

One of the things she somehow missed was that in Titusville and other black middle-class enclaves, a guiding principle was that as you climbed, you were obliged to reach back and bring others along. Rice has been a foreign policy heavyweight for nearly two decades; she spent four years in the White House as the president's national security adviser. In the interview, she mentioned just one black professional she has brought with her from the National Security Council to State.

This is disgusting. Essentially what Robinson is advocating is a tribal mentality in which you have an obligation to help support people that look like you. Not those best qualified, but merely those who share your skin color.

Read the rest of the column. Rather than celebrating Rice's accomplishments you get the sense that Robinson is upset that she doesn't view herself as a victim. Pathetic.

Update: Powerlineblog basically says the same thing as me.