The Decline of Anglo-Saxon Domination

After Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal was fired by the White House for his “disrespect,” the focus of the American public and officials has turned to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. This is an important process of acknowledgment by Congress of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, a candidate nominated by President Barack Obama, to the Supreme Court.

This is because in the last few decades, within the institution of checks and balances, the Supreme Court — a key branch of power, along with the president and Congress — is playing an increasingly important role in the internal affairs of the American government. From the abolishing of racial segregation and the legalization of abortion to George W. Bush’s “winning” of the presidential election in 2000 — which started eight glorious years of the “conservative revolution” — there was hardly anything that was not a result of the Supreme Court’s “authoritative” verdicts.

The Decline of WASP Domination

If Kagan is confirmed by Congress, as most people expect, the U.S. Supreme Court will not only have set a precedent in becoming an all “Ivy League club,” but will also establish a new milestone that is no less important in meaning than having Barack Obama, a bi-racial man with a Muslim bloodline, as its president.

This is the first time since the founding of America that the Supreme Court actually has no white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant — WASP, for short — representatives. Out of the nine chief justices, six are Catholics, and three are Jews (including the rookie Kagan).

It was only five years ago that the Anglo-Saxons still made up the majority with five chief justices. Such a rapid change is the best indication of the decline of Anglo-Saxon domination.

Though the American Revolution was the Anglo-Saxons’ “rebellion” against their motherland England, everyone from “Founding Fathers” like Washington, Jefferson and Adams right down to the main population of the North American colonies were white Anglo-Saxons.

For the last 200 years or so, the WASPs have sustained America’s politics, culture and economy. Almost all the presidents before Kennedy, the elitist education and leadership grooming systems represented by the Ivy League institutions, and the Ku Klux Klan — which had been extremely powerful in the South Central region for a long time (West Virginia U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, who passed away recently at age 92, was a KKK member) — were all representatives and symbols of WASPs.

Such a long-term and absolute leadership status caused scholars to term American politics “WASP ethnocracy.”

This is especially so because the American judiciary is largely of an Anglo-Saxon heritage. Besides the fact that the Declaration of Independence and the American judiciary are a kind of inheritance from England’s Magna Carta, the jury system and habeas corpus represented the bright spot in the Anglo-Saxon’s tradition of judiciary independence and is the cornerstone of American civil and legal society. It is regrettable that America’s supreme judiciary authority does not have any WASP representatives now.

The fall of WASP domination is not limited only to the judiciary system represented by the Supreme Court. We can see the presidential chain of command stipulated by the U.S. Constitution regarding times when a president is deceased or unable to carry out his responsibilities. Should anything happen to Obama, the vice president would first provide the backup. Current Vice President Joe Biden is a Roman Catholic. Next would be current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, also a Roman Catholic. Following her is the current Senate president pro tempore, Senator Daniel Inouye, a Hawaiian of Japanese heritage. It is only the fourth in line who is someone who can be considered an Anglo-Saxon — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In addition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a Mormon, and House Minority Leader John Boehner is a Roman Catholic. Neither of them fit the WASP criteria.

The Key Factor: The Principle of Meritocracy

There are many historical reasons for the decline of American Anglo-Saxon domination, such as immigration and the mixing of races. However, Noah Feldman, a Harvard Law School professor of Jewish descent, has recently pointed out that one of the key factors is the advent of the dominating principle of meritocracy in America’s upper strata before and after World War II.

Under this guiding principle, the American elitist education represented by the Ivy League institutions gradually opened up to ethnic groups outside of the WASP criteria, especially to the Roman Catholics and Jews who had been oppressed and discriminated against for a long time. This rapidly changed the ethnic composition of the American political and cultural elite. This is complemented by the economic success of the non-WASP, which has finally changed the ethnic structure of the American upper- and middle-classes, and especially the elite, in a little over half a century.

Of course, no ethnic group would willingly relinquish its dominating position. Even the conservative Wall Street Journal has admitted that the present tea party in the U.S. represented, to a large degree, the reaction of middle- and lower-class WASPs toward the loss of their status in society. This may be the WASP domination’s last gasp for air in the short term.

The development of history lies not in the will of man. The decline of the WASP following the gradual fall of elitist education and in the midst of economic competition is an unstoppable trend. This is especially apparent in the “blue-blooded” WASP families in the Northeast, where those who once were nobles are now starting to become commoners.

The Wall Street Journal cited a survey last month saying that among new converts to American Christianity, which includes the WASP, only 21 percent of the families have an annual income exceeding $100,000. The proportion of families of the same income level among Jews is 46 percent, and the proportion within typical Asian families was also more than 40 percent. In an America ruled by money, the implication of such an economic reality speaks for itself.