I have suspected this from the beginning: Here are a few examples of what I mean:
As I am fond of saying: "If you are adamantly opposed to DEI or "wokeism", you either don't understand the real meaning and intent of those terms or you are a hateful bigot!"If you're an American, you know the term "DEI" or "diversity, equity, and inclusion" has taken over our politics. Days into his second administration, President Donald Trump declared that DEI is "dead" and signed an executive order calling for an end to the federal government's diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Of course, the elimination of DEI harms many minority groups, including white women, veterans, people with disabilities, queer communities, and more. Yet, some Black Americans believe that the term "DEI" has been "co-opted" by the right and used as a racial slur against Black Americans.
1."This is who America always was. The brief DEI wave is the anomaly. The dominant trend in America has been hegemony, selfishness, and racial covenants. Trump is America's ID. Fortunately, Black folks are more creative than the oppressors. We gon' be alright."Alex Cole wrote:DEI is the GOP replacement for the N word.
2."Removing DEI is the president’s way of hurting Black people. He was sued for allegedly not wanting to rent houses to Black families. We are very aware that he is going to do everything he can to cripple us."
4."DEI usage is a blatant substitute for the derogatory n-word. Racism is obviously meant to erase our history."
5."I find it quite interesting that Trump's agenda is to imply that DEI is ruining our country and that everything should be based on 'merit.' Ironically, if everything was based on the usual 'merit' categories, Trump would not be where he is."
"He was able to attend some of the most prestigious colleges and postgraduate schools, and it was not based on any of his personal characteristics. It was based on nepotism and what he inherited from his parents. Legacy college admissions and other things related to this need to be examined as closely as DEI. Lastly, some DEI initiatives may give underrepresented groups an equal playing field in a world stacked against them, but DEI initiatives will not keep them there. If a doctor is unqualified, patients will not stay in the practice. If a small business does not bring forth a good product, it will fail, etc. This is why the whole argument is nonsense."—Anonymous
9."I believe that the purpose of removing DEI is to galvanize support from underqualified white men who feel entitled to any employment opportunity because of a presumed race-related privilege. It's not about hiring the best and brightest on a merit-based scale."
"As a Black person, we were conditioned for generations that we had to be at least ten times better to hold the same footing, and even then, we could be ruled out for being overqualified. The moment we thought our country was close to approaching MLK's dream, Donald Trump campaigned on taking us backward, disregarding our excellence and elevating mediocrity."—Anonymous
9."I believe that the purpose of removing DEI is to galvanize support from underqualified white men who feel entitled to any employment opportunity because of a presumed race-related privilege. It's not about hiring the best and brightest on a merit-based scale."
11."To be honest, this is the unfortunate result of the white men who feel they have lost their 'power' in this country because there are so many women, minorities, and persons from devalued groups who are earning and working for the positions that many white men just got handed to them for knowing the right person."
12."It's funny how the Trump administration has taken drastic strides to cut all DEI initiatives but have gone out of their way to provide a 'better path' for white South Africans. It's just a reminder of how people of any color other than white, mean absolutely nothing to this country."
13."This whole situation feels like the 'anti-woke' nonsense. Instead of learning what DEI is and recognizing how helpful it can be, people online started spreading lies and pretending it was something else entirely. The whole point was that prejudice was getting in the way of marginalized communities feeling safe in the workplace or getting hired, so DEI was supposed to teach people to confront their biases."
14."The largest beneficiaries of DEI initiatives are white women. But most of the MAGA supporters are happy because they think they are hurting Black people. But racism against us is par for the course."
Also, if Trump really based everything on merit, he would never have chosen most of his nominees for cabinet or any other government positions. Nor would he be threatening to fire all civil service employees who are not hard right conservatives unquestioningly loyal to him above all else, including the very constitution itself.
