Has the U.S. Gone Too Far on Diversity Hires?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns diversity hires. Is it possible that “the quest for ‘diversity hires’ has gone too far?” The newest U.S. Senator as well as the jobs of ordinary Americans seem to be screaming, yes! 

After the death of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) led to the appointment of Laphonz Butler – a black, lesbian resident of Maryland – to the office. For some reason, Butler’s race, sex, and sexual orientation were considered in her appointment even though they are not official qualifying factors to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Was Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom so concerned about her unofficial qualification to consider her real qualifications? Rachel Greszler, a research fellow in economics, budget, and entitlements at The Heritage Foundation, also questioned Newsom’s thought process.

One could question whether Newsom was so fixated on sex and race that he forgot to check what the qualifications are of a U.S. senator. Article I, Section 3 of the United States Constitution requires that senators must be at lest 30 years of age, have been a U.S. citizen for at least nine years, and reside in the state they represent at the time of their election. According to Maryland voting records, and according to a since-redacted reference to Butler residing in Maryland on the EMILYs List website (Butler’s most recent employer), Butler and her wife and daughter were Maryland residents when she was appointed and sworn into office.

While the requirement says that an individual must be a resident of the state they represent at the time of their election, Newsom said that Butler will change her voting registration after she is sworn in. Butler reportedly now has a lease in Los Angeles and plans to travel between California and Washington.

While Butler was appointed and not elected, a case can be made that the writers and early interpreters of the Constitution did not intend for appointed representatives to be exempt from the office’s required qualifications.

The fact that the governor of the most populous state in the nation disregarded a constitutional residency requirement and went 2,500 miles out of his way to pick the “first Black lesbian” member of Congress to represent California residents suggests that race, sex, and sexual orientation have been elevated to a destructive level.

The problem is that Butler is not the only person hired for their “race, sex, and sexual orientation.” According to Greszler, a September 25 piece in Bloomberg, “documented what appears to be tens or even hundreds of thousands of instances of race-based hiring.”

The Bloomberg report documented job growth at 88 S&P 100 companies and found that out of 323,094 jobs added in 2021 – the first year after George Floyd’s death and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests – 302,570 jobs, or 94%, went to people of color. Only 6% went to the 59% of the population that is white (not including Hispanics or Latinos).

If the reverse had been true, and only 6% of new jobs had gone to the 41% of the population that is people of color, the obvious discrimination would be almost universally acknowledged and condemned. And significant lawsuits would presumably ensue because Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discrimination against employees and job applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

While the Biden administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a 20% increase in discrimination charges against employers in 2022, the report does not highlight a single case of a discrimination against a white worker.

The above information, if true, is evidence that the “quest for ‘diversity hires’ has gone too far.” Such hires seem to be unconstitutional and definitely against Title VII in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Is it time for White people to start crying “discrimination?” The bigger question is, “would it do any good?”