Why are these vicious attacks against Diversity-Equity-Inclusion so rampant these days?
In a maniacal frenzy, President Trump and many of his appointees are blaming DEI policies for just about every problem under the sun. Just one example is the blatant hostility against trans people, hostility that is escalating to the point of inciting violence against them. To hear some Trumpites in power tell it, one would think millions and millions of trans people are taking over like aliens from outer space and are clamoring to compete in all women’s sports. It’s fear-mongering of the worst sort.
In an ever-escalating blame game, DEI has become the biggest “anti-Woke” villain-bogeyman. After a deadly aircraft collision a couple months ago, Trump himself suggested the possibility that an air-traffic controller might have been incompetent and hired just because of the aviation administration’s DEI policies.
Don’t these DEI attackers understand one of the major reasons America is great is that diversity-equity-inclusion policies and laws, over time, made this country great?
The United States was flawed right from its beginnings. Slavery was legal, some presidents owned slaves, segregation was legal, American women did not have the right to vote, abusive child labor was common and Native Americans (those who survived) were isolated on reservations and many of their children placed in “schools” where they were abused and their native culture (including their language) stripped from them. Those were just some of the hideous injustices.
Thankfully, it was the dawning of diversity-equity-inclusion awareness that redressed those grievances – establishing rights after wrongs had been perpetrated for so long.
Here are just some examples (just since 1920) of the progressive power of DEI:
In 1920, American women finally won the right to vote.
In 1935, the Social Security Act was approved by Congress, making life for retired and/or disabled people free from the fear of hunger and homelessness.
In 1938, Child labor laws were enacted to prohibit minors from working in hazardous occupations and setting restrictions on age and hours of work children would be allowed to work.
In 1954, in “Brown vs. Board of Education,” the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation in public schools is illegal.
In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was approved by Congress, guaranteeing Blacks the right to vote.
Also in 1965, the Medicare and Medicaid programs were signed into law, making affordable access to health care possible for older Americans and medical costs for people of limited income and/or serious disabilities.
In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage nationwide.
In 1972, “Title IX” was approved, prohibiting sex-based discrimination for educational programs and activities based on sex, gender identity or sexual orientation in academic programs or athletics.
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriages are legal nationwide.
Until the Supreme Court gutted them in 2023, affirmative-action programs helped historically under-represented groups get access to quality education and employment.
America has often been called a “melting pot,” meaning people of many differences can manage to get along while moving the nation forward for the benefit of one and all.
That is what diversity-equity-inclusion makes possible, and that is why those who belittle it, scoff at it and attack it should stop their cruel and misguided actions.
DEI should not be a “dirty word!”
