Illinois: Blacks on the Board

While we normally think of the border and coastal states as being those in the worst shape, Illinois may be headed fastest towards disaster. It is not only the fastest shrinking state, it also holds perhaps the worst financial outlook. The response of the Democrats, who now hold the governorship plus supermajorities in both houses of the General Assembly, has been predictable. Mandatory gay/transexual education for schoolchildren. Yeah, that's what the state needs. Now the lower house has passed a bill requiring that every publicly traded company within the state must have at least one woman on the board and at least one African-American. One minority? One Latino? One guy who speaks with an accent or has a dark complexion? No. The language is very specific.

• "African American" means a citizen with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry and who self-identifies as being African American.
• "Female" means an individual who self-identifies her gender as a woman, without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth.

So the female requirement can be dodged - if desired - by merely claiming the fairer gender as one's own. But the African standard requires blood! And not just any blood, but sub-Saharan blood. Sorry Egyptians, Tunisians, etc. You don't count. Elon Musk, you can pretty much fuck off, too. Every company must have a bonafide negro on the board, and that's just the law.

While I appreciate Illinois' embrace of accelerationism, I do have to wonder about the plight of the downstaters. (I was born & raised in downstate Illinois, myself.) What exactly will it take for those good people to separate themselves from the tyranny of Cook County? It appears that they will tolerate about any abuse. It might be an interesting pool. What would it take for the downstaters to declare state secession? More taxation (they're already the highest taxed state)? Reparations? Sacrifice of the first-born child? Surely there must be a breaking point in there somewhere. Maybe we'll find out.