The liberal consensus was vulnerable, though, on the same grounds the post–Civil War consensus had been: race and gender. Since the Founding, Americans had been steeped in the argument that equality for white men depended on inequality for people of color and women. Now, as marginalized Americans demanded full inclusion in the national fabric and the government took on issues of racial and gender equality to try to level the playing field, Buckley and his fellow travelers turned to the American paradox, embracing its corollary and claiming that equality would undercut liberty.
