Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Will Fail

Kevin McGary's new book shows that the foundation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is as flimsy as paper. New Africa/Shutterstock

Enough books have been written about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to fill every campus safe space and faculty lounge in the country. DEI is a cultural concept often encased in hyperbole that has infiltrated every aspect of society: academia, business, entertainment/sports, media, military schools, and even churches.

Author Kevin McGary puts the controversial philosophy under a nonideological, apolitical analysis in his book “DEI in 3D: Deciphering Designs, Demands and Dilemmas of DEI.”

Mr. McGary adopts a holistic approach in his analysis of DEI, asserting that a 3D perspective offers a more thorough analysis than a conventional 2D view does. For example, rather than merely focusing on what DEI is and why it’s good or bad, Mr. McGary believes his comprehensive perspective that highlights the history, motivations, and expected outcomes of DEI is crucial for a proper understanding of it.

Author Kevin McGary. Courtesy of Kevin McGary

DEI’s Shaky Foundation

Mr. McGary uses housing construction as a metaphor throughout his book, citing the importance of confirming the construction, foundation, cornerstones, framing, interior, and roof of a house are sound and safe.

Mr. McGary writes that DEI, for all its good intentions, is, as practiced today, based on “insidious foundations inspired out of selfishness and destruction.” Specifically, he contends that DEI, as currently implemented, will eventually collapse because the goals it espouses are contradicted by its embrace of racist ideology and its insistence on equal outcomes rather than equal opportunities.

One example Mr. McGary cites is DEI professionals’ support of abortion. He believes that this particular support is antithetical to the fundamental tenets of DEI because abortion in America is primarily racist. Its racial bias must be acknowledged: Planned Parenthood was founded by Margret Sanger, an avowed racist and proponent of eugenics. Mr. McGary asserts the fact that most abortion clinics (he calls them “abortuaries”) are located in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods is itself racist.

“When blacks are targeted at disproportionate rates with the intent to prevent them from being born, how can they participate in helping communities achieve diversification? When there is no ‘equal outcome’ of allowing blacks to be born at the same rate as others, how can blacks experience meaningful equity? When blacks are not alive, there is obviously no opportunity for inclusion!” he writes. 

Mr. McGary’s deep dive into America’s racial history faults two men specifically for stunting America’s growth in true racial equality until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Godfathers of DEI

Mr. McGary blasts DEI’s embrace of the theories of Charles Darwin and Karl Marx for the emergence of DEI theory and why, as currently practiced, it will fall under its own suppositions. Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary biology, theorized that ethnicities evolved at different rates, meaning some races were more evolved than others. Darwin also believed women were less intelligent than men due to their smaller craniums.

Mr. McGary also castigates Karl Marx. The author describes Marx as a fan of Darwin who was trapped in perpetual adolescence, a grifter who never held a job and who raged at capitalism due to his own financial inequity and fiscal ineptitude. 

Darwin helped light the fuse of racism and sexism, and Marx stoked the bonfire of societal divisiness with his theories on the oppressor versus the oppressed and the supposed unfairness of capitalism. Neither man believed in the values of diversity, equality, and inclusivity, and yet their ideas comprise much of the foundation contemporary DEI theory is based upon. 

“With his embrace of narcissism and rejection of accountability and responsibility, Marx’s background does not at all align with someone who should be listened to for restorative justice. Why, then, [are] Marx’s philosophies architected within the framing and inner workings of DEI?” Mr. McGary muses.

DEI Is Inside-Out and Upside-Down

Mr. McGary argues that DEI, as constituted today, is a circular paradox. “Attempts to fight evil (e.g., racist ideology), by using the same evil (e.g., reverse racist ideology), still produces evil. Evil is evil; using evil to quench evil only helps spread more evil. Evil can only be overcome with the opposite force: good.”

The best way to salvage DEI theory, according to Mr. McGary, is to eliminate the utopian idea of equity and swap it with equal opportunity, or what the author calls DOI (Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusivity). Opportunities must be based on meritocracy rather than skin color, gender, or other social justice checkboxes.

Mr. McGary illustrates how hard work and meritocracy helped great black Americans like Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass succeed despite the racial barriers of their time. Those racial barriers were removed about 50 years ago and are enshrined in law. Consequently, DEI today should be less about identity politics and white privilege and more about mutual respect, an appreciation for the inclusivity America offers, and the equal opportunity capitalism provides citizens based on merit and skills.

The author’s inclusion of Biblical perspectives and modern-day parables found at the beginning of each chapter compliments his thoughtful approach to an open-minded discussion of DEI. The parables help provide readers a deeper understanding as to the significance and underlying motivations of DEI minus the usual hyperbole.

Kevin McGary's book traces the history of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to expose its weaknesses.

DEI in 3D: Deciphering Designs, Demands and Dilemmas of DEI       By Kevin McGary Rational Publishing, June 17, 2023 Hardcover: 161 pages

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