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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Thomas: Can ‘systemic racism’ be eliminated?

Audrey Reed, 8, holds up a sing through the sunroof of a car during a rally in Los Angeles, Monday, July 20, 2020. Thousands across the country walked off the job to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Audrey Reed, 8, holds up a sing through the sunroof of a car during a rally in Los Angeles, Monday, July 20, 2020. Thousands across the country walked off the job to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Audrey Reed, 8, holds up a sing through the sunroof of a car during a rally in Los Angeles, Monday, July 20, 2020. Thousands across the country walked off the job to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that has worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Second only to his fixation on “climate change” is President Biden’s focus on “systemic racism.” In addition to reinstating mandatory race theory training for federal employees, Biden proposes spending even more money we don’t have to fix a problem beyond the government’s reach. As with original sin, curing racism is best solved internally. It is a matter of the heart.

If racism is systemic, meaning it is embedded in white people, how is it possible to eliminate it? Do those on the receiving end of discrimination have a role to play? This is a question Democrats never address. If spending money is the key to limiting racism, more progress should have been made by now.

If white people are all inherently racist, then why have so many willingly contributed to causes and programs to lift poor people of color out of poverty to become self-sustaining? Why did so many white people vote for Barack Obama for president?

Part of the campaign against racism was Lyndon’s Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” According to the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, almost $23 trillion has been spent on programs to end poverty, but the poverty rate remains about the same. This is the definition of insanity, repeating the same behavior and expecting a different outcome.

In none of these pronouncements by Biden and the civil rights establishment does one hear about the personal responsibility of those who have the opportunity – if they make the right decisions, regardless of circumstances – to improve their lives.