Santa Ono and Ileana Garcia forgot they aren’t white
How an unemployed university president and a Florida senator were reminded that their resumes will never “trump” their race
By Carron J. Phillips
For people of color, the proximity to whiteness is always a gamble. If you play it too safe, you might miss out on opportunities. If you go all in, you risk having the rug pulled out from under you.
The house always wins, and that often includes a sobering message.
Dear former University of Michigan President/almost University of Florida President Santa Ono and Florida (R) Sen. Ileana Garcia, You aren’t one of us.
Sincerely yours, the establishment.
According to The Gainesville Sun, Ono was poised to earn up to $15 million under his contract, making him one of the highest-paid public university presidents in the country. His resignation was accepted by the Board of Regents at the University of Michigan, and he was unanimously approved as the president-elect at the University of Florida by their Board of Trustees. Now, however, he appears to be back on the job market.
Some say it’s because he wavered on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
“Like many, I supported what I believed to be the original intent of DEI — ensuring equal opportunity and fairness for every student. That’s something on which most everyone agrees. But over time, I saw how DEI became something else—more about ideology, division, and bureaucracy, not student success,” he wrote last month for InsideHigherEd. “That’s why, as president of the University of Michigan, I made the decision to eliminate centralized DEI offices and redirect resources toward academic support and merit-based achievement. It wasn’t universally popular, but it was necessary. I stood by it — and I’ll bring that same clarity of purpose to UF.”
Others say it’s because he failed to read the room.
“How did former U-M pres. Santa Ono fail to count the votes for the Florida job, which he lost 10-6? He could have bowed out prior, probably falsely claim it was on principle (when he has none), and still get a top college job. Now neither side of the DEI divide will take him,” John U. Bacon, a journalist, author, and Michigan alum, explained on social media.
The real reason is that the Canadian-born immunologist of Japanese descent forgot how America works. In Michigan, you can get away with being the president of the university that bears the state’s name as an Asian. Gainesville is a different story.
“@UF sets the benchmark for education nationwide. There’s too much smoke with Santa Ono. We need a leader, not a DEI acolyte. Leave the Ann Arbor thinking in Ann Arbor,” Florida Rep. Jinny Patronis posted on X.
Never forget your identity as a person of color. Ignoring how others perceive you can result in setbacks that might be difficult to recover from. If you ever experience a sense of racial amnesia, the establishment will ensure that you understand its true feelings about you.
Just ask Ileana Garcia.
For some reason, the daughter of Cuban exiles believed aligning with MAGA was the best path forward. It has often been said that the fastest way for a person of color to advance in politics is to become a Republican, and the senator from Florida took this idea even further. In 2016, she served as Trump's communications director for Latino outreach and is the founder of the group "Latinas for Trump."
But right now, all she will be remembered as is an idiot.
“This is not what we voted for,” Garcia recently said in a statement that laughably “condemned” the mass deportations that have almost exclusively targeted people who look like her. “I have always supported Trump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane.”
Trump’s actions with ICE reflect exactly what she voted for. She assumed she was "one of the good ones" while voting against the self-interests of her own community. It’s as if Kamala Harris didn’t warn people that Trump would send the military after his targets. And in this moment, Garcia can’t turn away from what’s taking place in Los Angeles.
“I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings — in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims — all driven by a [Stephen] Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,” she added. “This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value.”
According to CNN, 46 percent of Latinos voted for Trump. And now, sadly and horrifically, the consequences of the 2024 presidential election have arrived — again.
Garcia and her people are facing the unfortunate reality of being judged solely based on appearance, as they "fit the description." Meanwhile, Ono is in between jobs because he believed that the establishment in Florida would recognize his work ethic rather than his ethnicity.
Garcia and Ono should take this moment to understand that it doesn't matter how closely your skin tone resembles theirs; your DNA will always prevent you from entering certain rooms and sitting at exclusive tables. Embrace your heritage and take pride in who you are and where you come from. Being true to yourself is an act of courage; pretending to be someone you're not is an act of cowardice.
Besides, good things rarely happen in Florida.
Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University.
Yes. All the more reason those of us enjoying white privilege need to show up Saturday. Again.
So very true. I will never understand why people consciously vote against their own best interests. This is the case for every woman, regardless of race, in America, as well as ALL minorities. Not even being billionaires exempts these people from this unfortunate truth.