DEI, the new CRT

Not long ago, Whites scurried across the country like Chicken Littles. They warned that Critical Race Theory (CRT) was a greater anathema to high-school education than slavery to democratic values.”

I duly decried their racist hypocrisy in commentaries like “Maddening Critical Race Theory Turning Suburban Moms into Jan 6-Style Insurrectionists” on February 12, 2022, and “Fox News Gave the Jan. 6 Hearing the CRT Treatment” on June 11, 2022.

Now, those hegemonic-Whites-turned-Chicken-Littles are issuing a new warning. They claim diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) are more anathema to corporate values than racism, sexism, and homophobia in the workplace.

DEI, the new Affirmative-Action bogeyman

Some Whites resent any effort to redress the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and discrimination Blacks suffered throughout US history. The Supreme Court sanctioned their resentment by effectively abolishing affirmative action policies. Now, they’ve turned their resentment towards DEI.

But bashing DEI, like bashing CRT and Affirmative Action, is just a way for White supremacists to cloak their racism in claims of meritocracy. Insisting that DEI efforts are inconsistent with quality care is inherently racist. It’s that simple, folks.

That said, I am encouraged by how billionaire businessman Mark Cuban schooled billionaire businessmen Bill Ackman and Elon Musk. He pointed out the critical role DEI plays in building a successful business. 

Here is how no less a business authority than Forbes reported it today:

Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman[wrote that] ‘DEI is racist’ given the alleged disadvantages such measures provide to ‘white people.’ Elon Musk [concurred, saying] DEI is the ‘definition of racism’ and ‘shame on anyone who uses it.’

Mark Cuban … pushed back … arguing well-done DEI ‘is a goal every company should have’ as a diverse workforce helps businesses best understand their customer base, an equitable workplace helps companies maximize value from employees and inclusive environments increase worker productivity as it reduces undue stress.

The hypocrisy of DEI haters

Billionaires Ackman and Musk whining about DEI discriminating against Whites is rather like insurrectionist Trump whining about Biden conspiring to prevent him from appearing on the ballot for president this year. This is not just hypocritical; it has no basis in fact.

As it happened, I addressed the hypocrisy afoot on Tuesday in “Racists Force Gay, Harvard’s First Black President, to Resign.” I also noted this shameful irony: Ackman is Jewish. Yet, he’s carrying water for White supremacists.

Except, in the MAGA Republican playbook, hypocrisy is a virtue, not a vice. So, nobody should be surprised that Ackman’s self-righteous crusade against DEI is rife with hypocrisy.

But Karma’s a bitch. Only that explains Business Insider breaking this news today:

Ackman seized on revelations that Harvard president Claudine Gay had plagiarized some passages in her academic work to underscore his calls for her removal following what he perceived as her mishandling of large protests against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza on Harvard’s campus.

An analysis by Business Insider found a similar pattern of plagiarism by Ackman’s wife Neri Oxman, who became a tenured professor at MIT in 2017. Oxman plagiarized multiple paragraphs of her 2010 doctoral dissertation, Business Insider found, including at least one passage directly lifted from other writers without citation.

But, like Trump, Ackman will make a virtue of this hypocrisy. And his obvious arrogance and narcissism are such that he couldn’t care less about how his racist crusade against Gay is now backfiring on his wife. 

In any event, for the record, I’ll take diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) over white, entitled, and incompetent (WEI) any day.