Folks with common sense likely were pleased when a recent executive order came down from the Trump administration to ban DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs from all federal agencies. One wonders why it has taken so long to discard such an un-American system from the government.
The DEI apparatus also attempts to implement quota systems for minorities regarding higher education enrollment slots as well as in occupational positions whether the individuals involved are qualified or not. In other words, it discriminates based on color, gender, and race instead of seeking to enroll or hire folks based on character, experience, and merit. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would likely have been disgusted at the DEI apparatus as he believed that people should be evaluated based on their character, not their physical characteristics. He also noted that “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” The best disinfectant to expose the reverse racism of DEI is the light of transparency.
Folks who promote the DEI worldview also believe that competition and success should be devalued in favor of the equity of prearranged outcomes. In other words, education must be watered down so that less ambitious students can somehow get a leg up as they move through the educational process. The result of lowered standards is declining test scores, intellectual poverty, grade inflation, and social promotion. Is it any wonder that at least 40 percent of California public school students require remediation in language arts and math when they enter higher education?
Unfortunately, DEI has permeated businesses and key institutions in our society, and it won’t be easy to dismantle. It tends to punish folks who work hard and want to compete on a level playing field. It also hurts minorities because it creates a blanket generalization that certain minorities are victims and need special assistance in order to succeed. That broad brush claim is insulting to the intelligence of minority communities but causes many to believe that they can’t succeed through merit and their unique talents.
Consequently, DEI has generated soul-crushing damage in our society because of a lowering of standards in academia and the workplace. Visualize for a moment the outcomes that can unfold if an air traffic controller, architect, dentist, doctor, engineer, mechanic, pilot, professor, etc., are hired primarily because of color, gender, or race rather than competence and experience. Lives can be placed at risk if folks who lack the requisite abilities are chosen over others based on gender or skin tone.
DEI, which includes affirmative action and identity politics, breaks the law when it intentionally targets minorities for college enrollment or career positions instead of marketing to all eligible students and workers regardless of ethnicity and gender. Moreover, DEI attempts to censor folks who question its discriminatory practices. DEI influencers forget that America was founded on the constitutional principle of freedom of assembly, the press, religion, and speech for everyone, not the freedom from these activities.
Now let us turn to equality of opportunity, which is a principle that is very American in nature. In the United States, anyone can compete and pursue opportunities regardless of ethnicity and gender. Any individual can also create opportunities that can generate ideas, products, and services to benefit society.
While most folks value natural cultural diversity and fairness in the big tent that is America, they bristle if an immoral quota-based DEI is forced upon them. Any form of diversity should never make folks feel guilty for injustices of the past in which they did not participate. Genuine diversity would not pick and choose winners and losers in human endeavors based on superficial characteristics.
Americans believe that no special interest group should receive extra rights merely because of some cultural, linguistic, or religious differences. Yet DEI demands that minority groups receive preferences over the majority population, which undermines the concept of a level playing field for all. Yet DEI can be inconsistent, as witnessed by the rampant anti-Semitic behavior targeting Jews on campuses and in the streets following the heinous terrorist ambush perpetrated by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
By contrast, equality of opportunity offers the same rights to all folks who want to train for a career. Is equality of opportunity perfect? By no means. It doesn’t guarantee success for everyone who seeks opportunities, because nothing in life is guaranteed. What it does is provide options for those willing to study hard and work diligently. If one opportunity doesn’t pan out, other opportunities arise, and folks can revise their academic and career goals.
The beauty of equality of opportunity is that it leads to limitless opportunities through competition and innovation. People tend to rely on communities and personal initiative to reach their dreams rather than government handouts. While DEI treats people like children forever with its mentality of unearned entitlement, equality of opportunity encourages maturity, merit, and the development of genuine virtues. While the inverted reasoning of DEI would be normal under autocratic rule, it has no place in a representative democracy.
