At a commencement address at the University of California at San Diego on June 14, President Clinton pledged to begin a year-long dialogue on the way Americans think about race and race relations. Saying dismantling affirmative action programs would pave the way back to "segregation," Clinton reiterated his support for those programs, and stressed his opposition to any effort to dismantle them.
But will the formation of a seven member advisory panel lead to any new breakthroughs in the way Americans get along with each other?
It's safe to say that it probably won't.
Clearly, race relations in the U.S. are at their lowest ebb since Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus some four decades ago.
And, while Clinton's talk about improving the state of race relations is noble, he betrays himself.
Time and again throughout his presidency, Clinton has obsessed about his place in history. After the UCSD speech, an aide said the president hoped improved race relations would be his "legacy."
If Americans have learned nothing else over the last few years, they've learned that increased governmental intervention in their lives does little to better their lot.
The government agency charged with leveling the racial playing field, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, is sagging under its own weight, facing years of backlogged cases.
Rather than spending its time adjudicating honest violations, the EEOC faces spurious complaints filed by disgruntled employees looking for a bit of old-fashioned retribution. The number of frivolous complaints filed each year is staggering.
Now, with Clinton grousing about race, and pledging to make it his legacy, the formation of a special panel seems destined to just add to that backlog without accomplishing much at all.
The racial gulf in this country is one that needs to be bridged, but it needs to be bridged without creating a cumbersome federal bureaucracy.
Learning how to get along with each other begins in the homes, the schools, and the churches.
Ultimately, it's up to parents to decide whether they want to raise racists, or children who care about the lot of their fellow humans.
A president looking to carve out his own place in the history books will not help. If anything, it will probably hinder.
Politics US- Executive Branch
