Bye-bye, DEI
Republican-majority states discriminating against BIPOC & LGBTQ+ people
This isn’t so much of an educated, well-informed newsletter as it is a rant about statewide bans on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs.
Republicans in 30+ states have introduced legislation to ban or limit DEI programs in schools.
Hearken back to 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. There was a political reckoning among Black people that swept across the nation as part of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Companies implemented DEI programs in droves, creating specific roles for hiring more diverse candidates and promising to ensure equity for all in the workplace.
Now it’s 2023 and companies are cutting DEI initiatives and slashing related staffers.
I’m not gonna lie: I do think companies went overboard in hiring a multitude of people to create and fill DEI departments. However, I don’t think a DEI position or 2 is useless (Director and someone mid-level or junior to assist). Talent or recruitment departments are not educated enough or well-equipped to make diverse hiring a priority. Too many applications to sort through, too many candidates to call, too much to do. This is where DEI comes in—to ensure the hiring process is fair, equitable, and diverse.
But banning DEI education initiatives throughout each state ain’t it.
In June 2023, the US Supreme Court pretty much struck down any form of race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions. Hence, phasing out the opportunities for racial minorities in colleges and universities that they normally would not have had access to.
From the NBC News article linked to above:
Advocates for the anti-DEI movement have called such policies and programs unconstitutional, holding that focusing on diversity and inclusion only divides Americans and fosters “white guilt.” These efforts are part of the larger conservative push against “wokeness.” The anti-DEI efforts follow, and have gained momentum from, the backlash to Black Lives Matter and the implementation of laws to limit what can be taught about race in schools.
The ban on teaching critical race theory (CRT) is another example. The argument is that teaching about race-based history discriminates, is not factually correct, and is divisive. However, withholding information on how non-white citizens have been poorly treated in this country is not providing a true education.
The whole backlash against CRT and DEI smacks of racism. Every time I hear about a ban to withhold the true horrors of American slavery, I get very bent out of shape. How many students are taught that America had its very own concentration camps for the Japanese during World War II?
This post mainly focuses on race, but the bans on gender and sexuality are important too. And I don’t mean we should be teaching 8-year-olds about sex, but I don’t think it’s indoctrination to introduce the concept that a family can consist of a mom and dad, 2 moms, 2 dads, or 2 parents (non-binary). Fifth and sixth graders entering puberty shouldn’t be denied this kind of knowledge, especially as they try to figure out who they are along with the raging hormones developing inside their bodies. Education of these topics doesn’t encourage adoption of these identities. It allows kids the space to put a name or meaning to who they are without feeling like they’re all alone and no one understands them. The ban on talking about sexuality prevents youth from talking to a trusted teacher or person in school authority about the challenges they’re facing as they grapple with understanding who they are. The law that forces trans kids to use bathrooms based on assigned gender at birth causes all kinds of harm to not only their psyche but also to the cisnormative children who are extremely confused by why someone who appears to be of the opposite gender using their bathroom. As an adult, I probably would ignore a trans woman walking into a stall. If I saw a trans man, however, I’d be pretty alarmed and scared. A person who identifies as a man—and clearly presents like one—should not be in a women’s bathroom and vice versa. That being said, I’m not against unisex or gender-neutral bathrooms. (Thank you for introducing that to me, Ally McBeal.)
A chill creeps up my spine with every DEI legislation ban that gets signed into law that prevents teachers from expanding their general American history beyond mostly white figures. I get a crick in my neck when laws restrict teachers from discussing gender and sexuality issues with their students who approach them personally. Sure you can talk to a student who is suicidal but if it has to do with the fact that they’re troubled by their identity? Good luck. I don’t want to break the law.
So that’s my rant. Not a clear-cut, linear, or super informative post but something I needed to get off my chest since Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama recently signed a DEI ban into law, the latest of a handful of states backlashing against information about race, gender, and sexuality in public schools and higher education.
So yeah, Democrats aren’t great but Republicans are much worse for allowing diversity and inclusivity to flourish.
We’ll save the “Blacks used to be Republicans during the Civil War” for another day.