When the gods of science begin to clone the sons of men, who shall be their chosen people? According to minority media personalities, it shall be the usual suspects: rich, white males. In an ominous development, some members of the “civil rights community” are calling on the federal government to clone the downtrodden.
While driving through Columbus, Ohio, I tuned in a minority-oriented radio station in time to catch their local talk show, “Online with Derrick Clay.” Clay insisted that all therapeutic human cloning efforts undertaken to date involved· only whites. “There are major differences in white and black anatomies,” Clay’s female co-host interjected, echoing Southern segregationist “scientists” of a bygone era. Asserting that the health of blacks was being sacrificed under this arrangement, she then asked, “Who will have access to cloning? Those who can afford it. For the most part, that’s rich, European males. What about those ethnic groups that don’t have access [to genetic reproduction]?”
Her rhetorical question deftly points the way to the next massive government program: govemment-subsidized human cloning.
We should hardly be surprised. There scarcely exists another consumer good not funded by taxpayer dollars, nor any service not subject to politically motivated cries of “equal access.” Why should the left make an exception for DNA? (And will DNA replicate at half its usual rate once conducted under government auspices?)
This episode does more than expose the undercurrent of paranoia rampant in the black community. (The same hostess purred agreement when a caller insisted the federal government introduced AIDS into black and Hispanic neighborhoods.) Were Clay a mere blowhard with access to a microphone, we might rest easy. But Clay is no extremist – at least, relatively speaking. He played a key role in electing Michael Coleman mayor of Columbus, in addition to assist- ing Al Gore’s resilient Ohio campaign.
The affirmative action threat transcends financial concerns, taking on potentially totalitarian implications. Imagine a future activist Supreme Court able to decree racial “balance” via human cloning.