Ramaswamy: Affirmative Action Irrelevant

by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman

December 31, 2023

Republican Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy condemns affirmative actions while doing a pushup challenge at an event in Iowa.

Vivek Ramaswamy is garnering attention not only for his involvement at a pushup challenge in Iowa, but for also condemning affirmative action in the midst of it.

According to the Des Moines Register, Ramaswamy has built his platform on the issue with “reverse racism is racism,” maintaining that standpoint at the Indianola event on Dec. 29. Soon after performing the pushup challenge, when questions were raised about correcting systemic injustices through affirmative action, the GOP presidential candidate stated that the time has passed.

“Was there a time and place for correcting for those past injustices? Yeah, it was like in 1870,” said Ramaswamy in response to the Rev. Samuel Ansong’s question on the matter.

Ansong, a Ghanaian pastor residing in Hawarden, Iowa, for the past 20 years, initiated the request for pushups and a discussion on race relations. His inspiration came from observing Ramaswamy engage in the same physical activity with influencer Logan Paul. Ansong has been advocating for pastors to prioritize physical fitness.

While adamant that affirmative action will not resolve the historical issues, Ramaswamy is urging the public to let “small” instances of racism be ignored into “irrelevance.”

“But at a certain point in time, I think that what you would think of as racism in this country — or you can fill in the blank, sexism or any other -ism or form of discrimination — it gets to be small enough, not to be zero, but small enough that the best thing we can do is let it atrophy to irrelevance,” explained Ramaswamy.

The Republican politician continued on, stating that today’s current anti-racist movement fuels more racism, despite its true calls to correct discrimination by acknowledging how race impacts one’s experience in America. In Ramaswamy’s view, mercy for America’s darker history is the better approach,

“There’s a time for justice and a time for mercy.”

Ansong received the answer warmly, agreeing that forgiveness will lead to more peace in race relations.

“If you don’t have the heart to forgive, then there’s no reason trying to fight for justice,” shared the religious leader.

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