Like Black Lives Matter, DEI must die

The social commentary about the death of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the country is so dramatic and hyperbolic you’d think it was written by Tyler Perry. It also proves that many people are just as vulnerable to racial propaganda as they were four years ago. At that time, everyone from politicians to pastors bought the lies that a Marxist, anti-God, anti-family, anti-capitalist, pro-abortion organization was fighting for racial uplift.

Why?

The black progressives having a meltdown about the death of DEI are either misinformed or spreading disinformation.

Because progressives seem utterly powerless in the face of slick slogans and three-letter acronyms. The people who were duped by Black Lives Matter are proving they didn’t develop any natural immunity to the type of race-craft that has become the left’s specialty. The newest controversy is centered on the University of Florida’s decision to eliminate all of its DEI programs to comply with state regulations. Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, released a statement criticizing the move. Smith played for the University of Florida before becoming a star running back with the Dallas Cowboys.

I’m not surprised that he thinks the death of DEI is an attack on racial equality. Athletes get their information from the same sources as the average American, so anyone who tunes into CNN, MSNBC, or ESPN is bound to receive and repeat the progressive spin on these issues.

The bigger problem is that the social commentators who control the flow of information and shape public opinion are just as clueless as the athletes. Stephen A. Smith talked about the issue and linked DEI to affirmative action, Jim Crow laws, slavery, and voting rights.

Roland Martin and social commentator Lawrence Ross suggested that black athletes should leave schools that have eliminated DEI programs. Ross went so far as to say that the University of Florida doesn’t see black athletes as human.

I think athletes, like all college students, should go to schools that serve their needs. No school has a right to a five-star running back or all-state small forward. But young black men shouldn’t be making those decisions because men who are old enough to be their fathers are poorly informed and easily spooked.

The truth is that DEI programs are about ideological conformity, which is how the left defines “diversity.” But there is nothing “diverse” about people who look different being coerced to believe the same thing. That won’t stop progressives from trying.

The associate dean of DEI at Stanford’s law school supported students who heckled and harassed a Trump-appointed judge last summer. That university official, Tirien Steinbach, didn’t affirm a commitment to hearing diverse points of view when Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan was interrupted. Instead, she said his speaking engagement was “tearing the fabric of the community” and that his past rulings “land as absolute disenfranchisement” of her students’ rights, all to audible finger-snaps from the audience.

Princeton’s diversity office includes several people with “they” pronouns in addition to several positions focused on sexual orientation and gender identity. I doubt that people who believe there are only two sexes feel very welcomed on campus.

The former DEI chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital sent out a New Year’s message in January with a list of “privileged” identity groups, which included white people, heterosexuals, “cisgender” people, and Christians. Progressives see this type of rhetoric as perfectly normal, but I’m not sure how many lives will be saved at a hospital just because doctors believe it’s a privilege to be white.

A large part of what DEI administrators do is “protect” students from ideas they don’t want to hear and ensure progressive dogma is always obeyed.

One of the other problems with DEI initiatives is how quickly they turn into massive, costly bureaucracies. A report released earlier this year found that the University of Michigan employs 241 DEI staff members for a cost of $30 million per year. In addition to cost, it’s important to note the decentralized nature of DEI programs, evidenced by the fact that even Michigan’s botanical garden and arboretum has a DEI strategic plan.

The black progressives having a meltdown about the death of DEI are either misinformed or spreading disinformation — a repeat of their behavior surrounding BLM.

In that case, an LGBT activist group used the deaths of black men at the hands of the police to market itself as a 21st-century racial justice organization. But the truth is that none of BLM’s 13 guiding principles mention the words “police,” “violence,” “brutality,” or “black man.”

This is why, in some ways, DEI should be understood as a second coming of BLM.

What the organization did talk about at length was its sexual politics. This is why the co-founders proudly proclaimed to be “queer-affirming” and “trans-affirming.”

The co-founders went even farther when it came to the family. Their “Black Villages” principle starts with a commitment to dismantling the nuclear family. With all the media appearances BLM’s co-founders made in 2020, I don’t remember a single progressive journalist asking them why an organization that claims to be for black people is against the traditional family structure.

The organization continued pushing its radical, self-destructive ideas until people found out that even Marxists like hosting parties at million-dollar mansions.

The manufactured controversy about the death of DEI shows that the people who control the creation, collection, and dissemination of information have become increasingly partisan and ideological. Their transformation from experts to know-nothings has made them more effective political operatives but far less effective at informing the public.

Hard-core leftists are far craftier than the journalists, pundits, and athletes they use to spread their message. Ideologues know how to string words together and construct phrases in ways that make opposition unthinkable for most people.

The death of these programs is not something black students need to fear. The main reason the DEI bubble is bursting is that these programs have next to no value, aside from helping companies defend themselves against charges of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. More people are starting to realize that a large part of what DEI administrators on college campuses do is “protect” students from ideas they don’t want to hear and ensure progressive dogma is always obeyed.

Universities have turned into expensive therapy centers for the most well-off young adults in the country. There is no need for black students to add to the anxiety and fear on college campuses. The old men on social media are doing enough of that for everyone.