article_snippet: For as long as I have known, the West Wing has essentially been the preserve of whites, especially white men.
article_snippet: (the President also happens to be white.)
article_snippet: What seemed so natural to the President was what was what also struck me as new: Photo after photo showed people of color working and meeting people of color alongside and of equal standing with whites.
article_snippet: Of course, it didn't take a visit to This White House to know that Obama has promoted diversity.  
article_snippet: This White House appears to be a model of racial, ethnic and gender integration.
article_snippet: President Bill Clinton was the first to name a cabinet in which women and people of color outnumbered white males.   
article_snippet: But in the West Wing itself, white men continued to dominate the inner circles.
article_snippet: But to be fair, it isn't as if there hasn't been a string of white males in the past who have been even less suited for powerful White House jobs.
article_snippet: But as a white southerner inspired by the civil rights movement, I must say that I was also impressed and grateful that Obama has made the West Wing itself such a welcome home for Americans of every color and background.  
highlights_snippet: Barack Obama has turned diversity into a living reality in the West Wing .