Among the many takeaways from watching the brilliant play “Hamilton” was how little it mattered that George Washington, generally believed to be a white guy, was played by Christopher Jackson. He did what an actor is supposed to do, make me believe. It didn’t matter a whit that he wasn’t white when the real George was. What mattered was that he was George Washington in the play. It worked. He made it work.

The Academy Awards has announced a new regime for consideration of films in the Best Picture category. As others from across the political spectrum have already figured out, the new regime isn’t likely to change much, if anything, because the four categories, two of which must be met for consideration, are largely already met or, with the most insignificant of tweaks, will be met.

Can you imagine being mandated to have 30% of secondary or minor roles going to “women, L.G.B.T.Q., an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, or those with cognitive or physical disabilities”? They could have made that 93.7% and still have met it without breaking a sweat. Of course, actors with cognitive and physical disabilities aren’t going to do as well as LGBTQ and women, who, as noted in the National Review, “may be underrepresented in the National Hockey League, but not in Hollywood.”

It wasn’t too long ago when, in response to the #OscarSoWhite hastage battle following a too white list of nominees, that Frances McDormand admonished during her acceptance speech for Best Actress that stars should add a new quid pro quo to their contract.

I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider.

It didn’t happen, not because the idea wasn’t woke, but it was kind of flagrantly unlawful. The law frowns on racist contract provisions. Which is the side to this, beyond the low bar of woke mandates, that will likely fail to be appreciated. After the past 50 plus years of fighting for equal opportunity, for the end of discrimination on the basis of race, we’ve returned to segregation, racism and discrimination, but just from the other side. How blatant can it get? This blatant.

I will never understand the woke mindset. pic.twitter.com/t7uvlMZpoA

— Noam Blum (@neontaster) September 9, 2020

It’s easy enough to spin an argument to justify this.

People need to be able to associate with their own kind.

Say these words with a cartoon character redneck southern drawl and it’s the Klan argument. Say these words in a cartoon character black vernacular accent and it’s woke AF. But the rationalization, uttered with the greatest of sincere passion, is the same. For the woke, it’s segregation for good instead of evil, but it’s still segregation. And it’s now social justice, because of course it is?

The hippie liberal notion of a colorblind society, where no one is judged by the color of their skin, where every person has the opportunity to rise as high as his or her or its talents, skills, work ethic and dedication allow, isn’t just a tired ideal, but a racist one. Who knew all of those years of fighting for equal opportunity just made us racists? We could have stayed home and smoked weed for all the good it would do.

If you’re colorblind, equal, then the Academy’s new rules, explicitly making race, gender, whatever sexual identity you’re wearing today, are anathema. They demand focus on race. On sex. On disability. On identity. You aren’t a person, just like any other person, all of whom have their personal combination of experiences in life, but a black person or a queer person, whatever that means.

Not only are you a black person, but your success hinges on your wrapping yourself up as a black person for all the world to see. When the call goes out in Variety for a new lead role asking for a black man, you can apply with your acting resume prominently displaying at the tippy top, “Black Actor.” Here, we thought all those years ago that the goal was to never have to say you were a black actor or a white actor, but just an actor. Do a great audition and you got the part. What were we thinking?

Are we going to have to watch Lieutenant Colonel Anne Hathaway tossing grenades at Jerry in the next WWI movie?

If she can pull it off, why not? That’s what acting is all about, playing the role of someone you’re not and convincing an audience that the person they’re watching on the screen is the real deal.

There is an obvious argument that when the choice is between the best actor and the actor of the correct hue, and the new rules mandate that you choose skin over talent, we are headed to mediocrity, a future of politically correct quotas and the denial of human excellence. Mind you, this suggests that the people in need of quotas aren’t, or can’t be, excellent. And if they are excellent, then they wouldn’t need quotas to get the lead role or move the kleig lights to the other side of the set.

But activists are impatient. Opportunity isn’t enough, and they want outcomes now. NOW! So what other way is there than to force the issue, ram it down society’s throat if need be, to achieve what they believe to be the just goal. That goal was once equality, but that word got in the way as it was constitutionally connected to opportunity, and opportunity just doesn’t guarantee the outcome grocery clerk’s can tally.

In its place is “equity,” which means we reinstall the old signs over the water fountains, but we give the nicer water fountain to black people this time. After all, if anybody could drink from any water fountain, that would be equality and only a racist would want that.