San Fran Elections Director Contract Not Renewed Because He Is White

Ah, yes. Radical woke racism. Which they, of course, call “anti-racism.” Because nothing says anti-racism quite like a qualified and well-performing white man losing his job for no other reason than that his skin happens to be white. That’s what is happening to San Francisco Elections Director John Arntz. According to the Washington Free Beacon, Elections Commissioner Cynthia Dai said that they decided not to automatically renew Arntz’ contract and instead to “open a competitive search” for an alternative. She said the decision was “driven in large part by the city’s plan for racial equality.” And Arntz is white, which means he has to go.

Now, you may think surely there is some other more substantive reason he is being replaced, like perhaps a sub-par job performance. But that is apparently not the case. Even Mayor London Breed said of the committee’s move,

“John Arntz has served San Francisco with integrity, professionalism and has stayed completely independent. He’s remained impartial and has avoided getting caught up in the web of City politics, which is what we are seeing now as a result of this unnecessary vote. Over the last year John successfully ran four elections, while navigating a pandemic that thwarted San Francisco into crisis response — all without a single issue. Rather than working on key issues to recover and rebuild our City, this is a good example of unfair politicization of a key part of our government that is working well for the voters of this city.” 

Mind you, Mayor Breed is black. Should that matter? No. But does it matter? Yes, only because radical woke leftists have made skin color matter in every single situation. Commission President Chris Jerdonek sent an email to Arntz, saying,

“Our decision wasn’t about your performance, but after twenty years we wanted to take action on the City’s racial equity plan and give people an opportunity to compete for a leadership position. We also wanted to allow enough time for a fair and equitable process and conduct as broad a search as possible.”

It’s literally just that he’s white. But he is permitted to reapply for the job and Dai admitted that if he remains the most qualified candidate after their “competitive search,” then his contract will be renewed. Interestingly, the 12 managers in Arntz’ department wrote a lengthy letter to the commission ahead of the vote and without Arntz’ knowledge, expressing that they were “gravely concerned” at the committee’s plan to replace Arntz and expressing their vehement support for the renewal of his contract. This letter appears to have been completely disregarded during the vote. That’s probably because his stelar job performance wasn’t at issue. His skin color was.

Now, I’m not opposed to shaking things up when a person has held a position for 2 decades. That’s why I want term limits for representatives in Washington, D.C. But I can’t help but shake my head in exasperation at the blatant racism that has motivated this change. Literally nothing other than this man’s skin color was a consideration in this decision, and even superseded other important considerations such as his actual job performance over the years. And that is quite literally the definition of racial discrimination and racism. And yet, these people see themselves as superior and anti-racist. The lack of self-awareness astounds me.