DEI

The concept of DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) is in the news as Trump sets policies designed to end DEI. In order to better understand what is happening, it is helpful to look back to the 1960’s. It started when President Johnson instituted affirmative action for federal jobs. President Nixon reaffirmed the idea and in time, while not explicitly mandated by law, the implementation of Title VII, coupled with executive orders and court cases, led to the widespread adoption in private industry. In 2023 the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in education and this spread quickly to other areas. In response to these changes the idea of DEI gained prominence as a way to work around the law and then Trump stopped the idea by using executive action. The original intent was to right past mistakes but the people who were affected had little to do with the past. Ask a person if they feel in any way responsible for the way native Americans were treated by the colonist and you will get a blank stare. Ask the same question about slavery or Jim Crow laws and once again, a blank stare. An attempt to correct past discrimination with new ways of discriminating is not acceptable to most people.