Nelson Auge writes me from time to time.
Often to disagree with something I have written.
On Saturday, he wrote this: “It has been announced this evening that Meta has eliminated 95% of their DEI policies and initiatives. Even those with far left leanings have seen the light. DEI is gone for good.”
He was doing a victory dance of sorts after Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, went on Joe Rogan’s podcast and announced that he was getting rid of diversity initiatives. Oh, and he announced that he was embracing masculinity.
(I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen anything less masculine than having to announce that you’re embracing masculinity. It’s kinda like that far-right guy who goes around crowing he’s an “alpha male.”)
University of Louisville students, faculty and staff chant as they march to Grawemeyer Hall during their rally to protect diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on their campus on Monday, March 18, 2024.
Anyway, I hope Auge is wrong.
I hope what is going on here is that the right has done such a good job of smearing the letters “D,” “E” and “I” that businesses that have to satisfy stockholders’ demands are wiping the letters out in attempt to make sure they aren’t the next Bud Light — but are still committed to providing fair workplaces.
We may be already seeing that with Facebook.
I hope what we’ll see is that many of the policies will live on with different names and that companies will work to make sure women and minorities are represented within their ranks.
Backlash against DEI in Kentucky
We’ve already seen the backlash against DEI here in Kentucky, with several state colleges including the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville, and with the Brown-Forman Corporation announcing they were ending their programs.
Nationally, we’ve seen companies like Walmart, John Deere and Lowe’s say they’ll end DEI.
And we continue to see rhetorical attacks against it nationally step up since Donald Trump won reelection in November.
Just this past weekend, Donald Trump Jr., responding to someone who blamed the wildfires in Los Angeles on climate change, wrote on X, “You’re an idiot. … (A)nyone with an IQ above 1 understands that this has nothing to do with climate change and everything to do with Democrat incompetence and woke DEI policies that have failed their constituency for far too long.”
The Los Angeles fire chief is a woman and the Los Angeles mayor is a Black woman.
There are complex reasons for the fires and the difficulties firefighters have had in stopping them, and none of those reasons have anything to do with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass being a Black woman or fire chief Kristin Crowley being a white woman.
Republicans quick to label people as DEI hires
Republicans have attacked Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as “DEI hires.” They’re both Black.
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And they’ve attacked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a “DEI hire.” He’s gay.
On and on and on.
It’s sexist. It’s racist and it’s homophobic.
Racist beliefs about DEI
There is a belief on the right that anytime someone other than a straight, white male is promoted, it’s because of their sex, race or their sexual orientation – as if no straight white male has ever gotten a promotion because he was a straight white male.
It’s also accepted as Gospel by many on the right that the whole point of DEI programs is to promote minorities and women who aren’t qualified over the people who are.
That’s inherently racist because it assumes that the only people who are qualified are those who remain — and they’re all white males.
The fact is, DEI done correctly does a couple of things – neither of which are bad.
It raises awareness that people are different and teaches us how to respectfully deal with those who come from a different place or different background.
And it tries to identify women and minorities who should be placed in leadership roles.
NFL’s diversity, equity and inclusion program
One of the most successful DEI programs in the United States has been the NFL’s Rooney Rule, named after late Pittsburgh Steelers president Dan Rooney. It requires teams hiring head coaches, general managers, offensive and defensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches to interview minority candidates.
It doesn’t force them to hire anyone who isn’t qualified.
What it does do is makes the teams at least consider minority candidates, and it gives those minority candidates experience interviewing for jobs.
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When the NFL passed the Rooney Rule in 2003, there were three Black head coaches. At the beginning of the 2024 NFL season, there were six Black head coaches, one biracial, one Mexican-American and one Lebanese-American head coach.
The NFL doesn’t appear to be backing away from diversity, equity and inclusion.
That’s DEI that is working. And I hope Auge is wrong when he says it’s dead.
Joseph Gerth can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courierjournal.com. You can also follow him at jgerth@bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Meta, KY companies cut DEI. They misrepresent its intention | Opinion