Affirmative Action and the Cost of Guilt Politics

Reparations were owed. Instead, we got tokenism dressed up as progress.

I’ve been a strong proponent of reparations for African descendants of slavery my entire life. Not because it’s a handout, but because it’s the only moral and historical response to the most barbaric institution in Western history.

America paid restitution to Native Americans. It paid the Japanese for internment. It even acknowledged Chinese exclusion. But when it came to slavery? The answer was a shrug, followed by a slap.

Instead of justice, we got Affirmative Action. Then came DEI. These weren’t solutions — they were distractions. Disguised as opportunity, they were often just backhanded forms of modern racism. And they made it easier to dismiss Black excellence.

I’ve never felt more insulted than when a white peer, someone less qualified and less accomplished, tried to explain to me why DEI was necessary. It wasn’t inclusion — it was absolution. A sermon about charity, not equality. DEI wasn’t a bridge — it was a mirror, and he wanted to see himself as the savior.

This isn’t resentment. This is the truth. What was sold as progress was actually performance, and it’s time we talked about it.

Affirmative Action’s Origins Were Flawed