Written by Justin Culetu
Earlier this November, another general election cycle came and went during which millions of Americans cast their vote for their preferred candidates. In a perfect world, American citizens would vote for the candidate that they believe is best fit by judging their political ideology, proposed policies, qualifications, previous accomplishments, personality, and personal life; the way the great Founding Fathers intended. Unfortunately, the bar is being lowered and people forget about all of the factors listed above while instead focusing on things like race, gender, secular orientation, etc. aka identity politics.
At the time this article is written, the former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris have been crowned by the media as the winners of the 2020 election. Harris still had three years left in her California Senate position, but based on the current results, she will have to step down from that position to fulfill her duties as Vice President. That being said, it is up to California Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint a successor to Kamala Harris’s Senate seat. But that decision is not a very easy one as of now and not for the right reasons.
Various identity groups are publicly pressuring Governor Newsom to appoint a person who represents their particular clique. The LGBTQ Victory Fund wants to make history by having the first non-heterosexual Senator in the United States succeed Kamala Harris. Multiple women’s organizations want Newsom to pick a woman. And Latino groups want to appoint California’s first Latino Senator this time around, while Black lives matter supporters want an African American to fill the seat. Instead of focusing on what makes a person best fit for the position such as proposed policies and visions for the country’s progression, these groups as well as millions of Californians, are more influenced by the sexuality, gender, and ethnicity of the proposed candidate.
Some of Newsom’s possible candidates, all picked to fulfill the demands of the identity groups, are San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Congresswoman Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland, and Secretary of State Alex Padilla.
One of the main ideas of American philosophy states that all human beings are created equal and are guaranteed equal rights and opportunities, but not equal outcomes. In this case, it does not matter which identity group prevails in getting their member to become California Senator, what matters is that the candidate is picked based on their competence, character, and how they plan to approach the tough tasks that the Senate position requires. Every Californian must be represented by this Senator, not just a certain group of people. And choosing someone for a position based on qualities like race, gender, and sexual orientation is racist and bigoted. No one should be inherently qualified or disqualified based on those traits, in part or on their own.
