What has become of the principle, so inspiringly spelled out in the United States’ Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal”?
Sadly, it is growing more difficult to find evidence that our federal government really believes and seeks to uphold that truth.
The Congressional Research Service recently completed a study of the 276 federal statutes that give preference in everything from employment to the awarding of certain benefits based on an individual’s being a minority, female, etc. Making that number more alarming is the fact that it does not even include countless regulations in federal agencies that also give preference to certain classes of people, at the expense of others.
And the number of federal set-asides keeps growing. For comparison, in 1995, there were “only” 172 laws that set aside jobs, contracts and so forth for people in various “protected” groups, compared with today’s 276.
“[T]he appetite of Congress and federal agencies for programs and practices that count on the basis of race, sex, and ethnicity remains undiminished,” Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, laments.