Not long ago there was a good deal of discussion about institutional racism. The idea being put forth was that even though most people have learned to get along better, there are still institutional barriers that, in effect, prevented some people from getting ahead.

Over the years there have been many policy changes to attempt to address this issue. Politicians, employers, bureaucrats and school administrators have bent over backward to see to it that all individuals have every opportunity afforded to them.

Unfortunately this is not enough; there still remains in our culture an undercurrent of racism. It is true that most folks abhor racism. Parents, teachers and students would never tolerate such a thing in their homes or their classrooms, and certainly they would not stand by and say nothing if such a theory was being disseminated.

Philosopher, writer, biographer and lecturer Leonard Peikoff once stated that if one truly wanted to destroy a country or culture, it is their philosophy that must be destroyed first.

It is philosophy that gives us as a people the tools to understand the precepts and concepts and ultimately the results or consequences of all of the ideas that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. Without a thorough, rational scrutiny of an idea, a false and intentionally divisive concept can infiltrate our culture and spread like a cancer, without the purveyors of the bankrupt philosophy even knowing what seed they have sown.

Today in America there is one minority which is still under-represented, bullied and taken for granted; the perennial loser against the powerful engine of mob rule called democracy. Unwilling to accept victim status, he or she struggles in a system where their very existence is not even acknowledged.

In the minds of those who embrace the “group think” mentality, there is no room for the “individual.” It is disheartening to realize “United We Stand” is no more than a cliché, as we are evading the systemic tribalism that is inherent in the teachings of the multicultural doctrine.

Multiculturalism is a package deal. It is a medley of unjust, unfair, irrational, bad ideas, concepts and prejudices bundled up in a pretty package called tolerance. It is, however, nothing of the sort.

Multiculturalism is being spoon-fed to our children and promoted in the press, media and schools as a valid philosophy of good. Beneath the feel-good surface are the tenets of an ideology that intentionally seeks to divide people into groups.

Worse yet, the purveyors of this philosophy are the arbiters of worth. Although the intention was to help those who need it most, this ethically bankrupt system has evolved into a societal rubric that awards points based on skin color or group affiliation, and punishes those who refuse to either play the victim or plead a mea culpa for the injustices that were committed in the past, by someone who shares nothing more than a paucity of melanin.

The symptoms of multiculturalism are legion. Examples can be found in newspapers, magazines, text books and the rewriting of history. Organizations that are racebased are a particularly egregious example of this mentality.

The pandering to minorities by some politicians is also appalling in that they are confessing that it is their personal belief that all persons of a particular ethnicity think the same way. The difference between the way U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor were treated during their Senate confirmation hearings is a striking example of the injustice that is inherent in this thought process.

Moreover, it is sad that our president has the audacity to lecture us on race, when he is exceptionally gifted in revealing his own prejudice. It is sadder still that so many will overlook that because of the historic nature of his presidency.

Until a person is judged only as an individual and not as a member of a group, we will continue to have racism, as well as classism, sexism and other forms of tribalism.

What we need more than anything today is an American “uni-culturalism” where people who come from different backgrounds and cultures are united by principles, values and a strong philosophical and ethical foundation.

Like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I, too, look forward to a time when men are judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. I hope that I live long enough to see it.

Jim Fitzmaurice is a resident of Rumson.