In a few short weeks, Americans will not only be given a historic “opportunity” to vote for a nominee who famously never won a presidential primary, they may propel in power the epitome of DEI to lead the free world.

It’s for those reasons that Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, has replaced former Harvard University President Claudine Gay as my poster child for the “adversity of diversity.” Let me elaborate.

Last year I wrote “The Adversity of Diversity,” where I argued against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. My book also scrutinized how DEI selection criteria invariably violate our civil rights laws and constitutional protections against discrimination. It was DEI that ensured the rise of the now-disgraced former Harvard president, Claudine Gay. It was also DEI that stayed the university’s hand from completely ousting Gay, though her academic clout came about from her rampant plagiarism of several scholars, including myself. Although Gay no longer holds the lofty title of “president,” she has retained a comfortable teaching position where she is reportedly instructing students on “Reading and Research.”

Fast forward to this year. Who would have imagined that the presidency of the United States would be on the DEI line? The selection-sans-election of Kamala Harris makes it clear that, as always, all qualifications and standards go out the window when DEI enters the picture.

DEI is white racism in disguise. White racism is an arrogance that manifests itself in the belief that holding racial and ethnic minorities to the same standards as white people means that you will have lily-white institutions and corridors of power, because no minority could possibly meet meritorious standards. To prove their point, adherents of the belief ignore black talent while seeking out mediocre blacks of high pedigree. The Claudine Gays, Ibram X Kendis, and the Kamala Harrises of the world are elevated and lauded. White racism rejects integration, equal opportunity, and fair play. Instead, it insists on group inclusion rather than individual merit. Outcomes are fixed if you have the approval of the “right” white elites.

For Harris, the die was cast when presidential candidate Joe Biden announced that his vice president would be a woman. This automatically restricted the pool of qualified candidates. It didn’t take long before thousands of influential black women organized a pressure campaign for the nominee to be a black woman. White women dutifully stepped back. Eventually, the top contenders were whittled down to former Georgia state representative Stacy Abrams and former U.S. California Senator Kamala Harris. It was a beauty contest between Titans that Harris won. Clearly, her credentials and connections outshone and overshadowed Abrams.

The “adversity of diversity” occurs when unqualified individuals are placed into the pinnacles of power where white progressives control and protect them. Their lack of experience and disdain for American values can wreak havoc on the institutions they are tapped to lead.

When we look at the life accomplishments of Kamala Harris, there is nothing that jumps out at us that would make a reasonable person see presidential or even vice presidential material. She has no real accomplishments to date. What has Harris done that would make anyone believe she is qualified to become the leader of the free world?

Kamala has been given numerous opportunities to demonstrate hidden talents and flashes of brilliance. She has failed every time. Every debate, every unmerited rise to power, every highly-publicized stop along her career path from being Willie Brown’s girlfriend to elective office in California — it all has proven her to be as incompetent as she is radical.

If Kamala Harris in all her incompetent radicalism were to gain authority over an already out-of-control bureaucracy, we would be in greater danger.

Our nation is on the edge of a free-fall. The last thing we need is an unintellectual coward who lacks the vision necessary to strengthen and restore America at the helm. Her leadership skills are reflected in her history of hemorrhaging staff and the momentous  decision to choose former Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, an admitted knucklehead, as her vice-president.

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Kamala can’t even see the damage she and Joe did over the last four years. A Center Square Poll (July 2024) found that two-thirds of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. And yet, when asked by two different interviewers (Fox News’ Bret Baier and The View’s Sunny Hostin) whether as president she would do anything different, Harris responded to Hostin: “There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of — and I’ve been a part of —  of the decisions that have had impact.”

This disconnect confuses me. Kamala could be justifying her work based on the many mainstream media polls that claim her and Donald J. Trump are neck-and-neck among voters. While I tend to believe the outcomes of non-mainstream polls like the one conducted by Center Square are more accurate — judging by the sentiments of average Americans reflecting on their ever-rising cost of living — it may be that the mainstream media polls are also accurate.

The polls indicating a close race may have captured the psyche of the post-2020 American: so conditioned by the fear of appearing racist or sexist that they set aside their own interests and go along with identity politics to oppose the designated minority.

Whatever the reason that polls on the race vary so greatly, the presidency of the United States is too important to be sacrificed to the insatiable appetite of DEI. Our nation is the last best hope for the free world. With DEI at the helm, our freedoms will further erode and inevitably cease to exist. Anyone who truly loves this country could not support a candidate installed without the approval of the American people, let alone one selected based on gender and color. We must demand better and vote accordingly.

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Dr. Carol M. Swain is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Faith and Culture (Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church) and is the author of The Adversity of Diversity: How the Supreme Court’s Decision to Remove Race from College Admissions Criteria will Doom Diversity Programs (co-authored with Mike Towle). X (carolmswain), LinkedIn (carolmswain), Instagram (drcarolmswain), GETTR (carolmswain) and Truth Social (carolmswain).

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.