No Race-Based Spoils System

Some Illinois politicians are saying that the U.S. Senate seat previously held by one Barack Obama should now be reserved for African Americans. Really? I can't think of a better way to hurt race relations in the state and to enshrine black inferiority for the foreseeable future.

Such a course of action would make the land of Lincoln more like Lebanon (where seats are set aside for perpetually warring groups) and less like the vision enunciated by Martin Luther King Jr., who said people should be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.