Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s dream of individuals being judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin is sadly far from being realized, especially within today’s Democrat Party, where racial politics are passed off as a fight for equality and diversity. This reality was on full display in the Senate on Thursday when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gave his rationale for voting against President Donald Trump’s judicial nominee Marvin Quattlebaum. Schumer stated, “The nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum speaks to the overall lack of diversity in President Trump’s selections for the federal judiciary. Quattlebaum replaces not one but two scuttled Obama nominees who were African-American.”

Schumer, who must think “minority leader” means something else, further explained, “As of Feb. 14th, 83 percent of the President Trump’s confirmed nominees were male, 92 percent were white. That represents the lowest share of non-white candidates in three decades. It’s long past time that the judiciary starts looking a lot more like the America it represents. Having a diversity of views and experiences on the federal bench is necessary for the equal administration of justice.” So, to put it bluntly, Schumer voted against Quattlebaum because he is white.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) responded to Schumer, tweeting, “I’ve known Chuck Schumer for years. He is not a racist, but this was an absolutely shameful reason to vote against a very qualified nominee like Marvin Quattlebaum.” Graham added, “This is political correctness run amok. Voting against a highly qualified nominee because of the color of his skin does nothing to bring our country and nation together. Frankly it is a massive step backward.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the GOP’s only black senator, also weighed in on Schumer’s comments, tweeting, “Perhaps Senate Democrats should be more worried about the lack of diversity on their own staffs than attacking an extremely well-qualified judicial nominee from the great state of South Carolina.”

The fact remains the Democrat Party has a long history of race-based politics. Schumer’s statements were merely political “diversity” virtue signaling, to the lowest common denominator. He raised no concerns over Quattlebaum’s past record, nor did he question any of his judicial views. Rather, Schumer simply played the race card as if that were reason enough to reject the man. Schumer is playing the worst kind of identity politics. Fortunately, his racially biased concerns fell flat as Quattlebaum was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 69-29.