The ideal that we’re all in the same boat was replaced with the reality that the educated class lives in a world up here and everybody is forced into a world down there.
David Brooks (New York Times, August 2nd)
Two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reported “thousands of diversity-focused workers have been laid off [and] companies are scaling back racial justice commitments.” After George Floyd’s death, the percentage of Fortune 500 companies with chief diversity officers rose from 45% to over 75%, but that was then. A recruiting veteran told the Journal that searches for DEI staff are “down 75% in the past year.” This was an inevitable course correction.
Everyday folks can see the USA is diverse and inclusive; Pew Research found 83% of Americans feel they can still obtain the American Dream. That’s why the Supreme Court ruled against Affirmative Action. Voters are tired of the left dividing communities and shape-shifting US history; the State Policy Network found 78% of voters want DEI to aim for equality of opportunity – not equality of outcomes. That’s why Ron DeSantis was re-elected in a landslide.
You want diverse? Minorities are 40% of the US population, but only 2.1% of Japan, 5% of France, 8.4% of China, 13.7% of Germany, 18% of the UK, and 19% of Russia. America is home to the world’s ninth largest black (42M) and second largest Latino (63M) populations. Descendants of English settlers now comprise less (8%) of the US population than Hispanics (19%) and African-Americans (13%).
You want inclusion? Women are now 53.8% of med schools and 55.3% of law schools. 93% of voters say gays and lesbians deserve the same protections and opportunities as straight people. Since 1980, every racial group but white has increased its share of college enrollments: whites are now the only race whose share of college enrollments is less than its share of the US population. If not inclusive, how’d America elect a black president twice?
These numbers are compelling, but walk into O’Hare airport, Disney World, or any Bank of America lobby to see the Great American Melting Pot with your own eyes. You’ll see black First Class passengers, gay couples holding hands, and Hispanics getting and giving loans. This is the America that DEI wants to fix with chief diversity officers that too often divide, entitle, and intimidate.
A divided nation is why Nikki Haley claims a “self-loathing has swept over our country.” Entitled anti-racists are why Tim Scott preaches Americans “can be bitter or better, but not both.” Far-left intimidation is why Vivek Ramaswamy campaigns that “reverse racism is racism.” The politics of identity is killing the USA, and its the reason angry consumers dropped Bud Light from its spot as the top-selling light beer.
The New York Times‘ David Brooks recently wondered if the “bad guys” are the “distrustful populists” or the “forces of progress and enlightenment.” Good question: are middling Americans tired of liberal elites forcing DEI on businesses and universities? Yes, top-down disruption and double standards are the recipe for anger. Recall the 70s, when bussing was forced on Boston’s working-class communities, but not on upscale suburbs where liberal elites lived.
Sadly, outing the “double standard” didn’t stop the painful disruptions. Elite schools still imposed quotas on Asian kids, federal agencies still placed identity before merit, and “woke” companies still let DEI workshops turn into beat-downs of older white employees. Change began after Christopher Rufo exposed DEI (and CRT) as the many being harassed by the few. With video evidence streaming on social media, a great awakening was inevitable.
A white girl had to know what “intersectionality” was, but couldn’t tell the class her working-class family did not enjoy white privilege. A Muslim boy had to know what “cisgender” meant, but couldn’t tell his teacher there were only two sexes. This is why Democrat James Carville says “wokeness” is costing his party voters, and Bill Maher calls out social-justice activists who say today is the “most oppressive” era in US history.
Carville and Maher can see their party is turning mean and losing voters they once claimed to protect. Quotes from the Journal‘s report depicted a bunch of DEI jerks. Many blamed “social-media firestorms” for companies pivoting away from hiring DEI officers, while others claimed that “white guilt” had run out at lots of employers. Duh! Maybe customers and employees resorted to posts and tweets to hit back at the counter-culture bullies…
…and CEOs did a little market research (311,000,000 straights, 235,000,000 Christians, and 231,000,000 whites). In 42 years of managing and selling my fellow Americans, I never met anyone who modified his or her behavior from the pain-gain approach. Making a low-income white girl admit “white privilege” or a faithful Muslim boy accept gender fluidity, if the parents don’t agree, is counter-productive – and really dumb politics.
Does this mean blacks, gays, and women are doomed in the classroom and workplace? Not in America, where robust protections are in place, and the arc of the moral universe has bent toward justice for 250 years. The view here is DEI was a solution looking for a problem.
We all have the ability to promote a culture of acceptance and inclusion. It starts with having a dialogue until we no longer have the fear of saying the wrong thing.
Inga Beale
