DEI = Racist

[Gadianton]

While reading this, I want everyone to create a vivid visual image in their mind of the nearest fire station, the one that would respond if you had to make a 911 call for a house fire or a medical emergency involving a loved one.

Imagine a scenario where your local municipality implemented a DEI diversity program for hiring firefighters and EMTs. This initiative arose from the observation that the fire department predominantly consisted of white individuals, prompting a desire to create a more diverse workforce that better mirrors the community's demographics.

In the upcoming hiring round for the fire department, the municipality aims to recruit 10 individuals, with 7 positions designated for people of color and 3 for white candidates. In the course of the hiring process, a total of 20 individuals were interviewed for the position, comprising 15 individuals identified as white and 5 individuals identified as people of color. Throughout the interview process, the candidate pool was narrowed to 18 individuals, with one white candidate disqualified and one candidate of color also removed. Subsequently, in the physical fitness test, two additional individuals were disqualified, one white individual and one person of color, resulting in 16 qualified recruits at this point in the recruitment process, 13 white recruits and 3 individuals of color.

With the recruitment process concluded, the Fire Chief, several Captains, and human resources will convene to discuss which qualified recruits will be selected to fill the urgently needed 10 open positions in the department. However, there is a significant issue, due to the DEI program implemented by the local municipality's council, those responsible for hiring recruits are restricted to a ratio of 7 people of color to 3 white individuals. It is clear from the beginning that due to DEI hiring restrictions, even if they bring on 3 individuals of color, they are limited to hiring only 3 out of the 13 qualified white candidates, as the DEI policy prevents the board from hiring beyond the established racial framework. This means that only 6 recruits can be hired in this round, and they will need to try again in 6 months to fill the vacant positions.

In the scenario I just described, what are some of the issues that emerge from having an understaffed fire department? Due to the fact that 4 positions remain unfilled, veteran firefighters will still require overtime, as the fire department will not be operating at full capacity. The morale within the fire department is diminished as it is clear to everyone that the staffing levels could have been adequate. All 10 positions were available for filling, yet the department will face challenges for at least another six months due to the demographic makeup of the qualified candidates, which predominantly featured white individuals.

The discriminatory circumstances I just described are occurring nationwide, impacting individuals careers and their family lives. I still believe that we lost the election due to two primary factors: the border and DEI.

Who can provide evidence DEI isn't racist?

Who can provide evidence that you're an actual Democrat? So far you haven't provided any.

Do you know how DEI works, or at least how in theory it's supposed to work? Have you ever looked it up? I'll admit I have no idea and I'm not going to start today. I suspect Sock Puppet is right that you are confused between DEI and AA. I can tell you that the publicly traded companies I've worked for have been huge proponents of DEI, but I've never seen the issues you're imagining. I've seen short-term abuse of HR by protected classes who weren't performing and blaming discrimination, but always has resulted in termination in the end. Publicly traded companies are required to hire the most qualified candidates. Yet they can also be big DEI proponents. I imagine the way it's supposed to work is something like: if you have 9 white guys on the team, and interviews are trying to fill the tenth spot, if the most qualified person is a white guy, you've now got 10 white guys on the team. However, if you have a white guy and a non-white person applying and are equally qualified, DEI would break the tie.

Your fire department brochure doesn't align with your imagined scenario. In fact, it points out that they struggle to meet their recruiting and retention targets and blame discrimination on that. In other words, DEI in their context is giving qualified non-white guys a chance who are being overlooked, especially when they aren't able to keep their positions filled with the chief's preferred racial profile.

The guy who didn't get the job who scored a hundred on a test has offered no evidence that DEI was a factor. It sounds like he had no work experience in the field yet, major red flag.

[canpakes]

This fellow, Andrew Brigida, did achieve a 100% on his AT-SAT exam, as stated … 12 years ago, in 2013. It’s strange that the country has gotten along pretty well without his services for so many years.

What the article doesn’t let on is that Brigida failed his Biographical Assessment, as noted in his subsequent complaint Brigida v. Buttigieg, from 2021:

Following the FAA's changes in the air traffic controller hiring process, he took and failed the newly implemented Biographical Questionnaire in 2014.

Paragraph 8, in ‘Background’, from: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/brigida-v ... -899911822

The Biographical Assessment does not focus on DEI concerns:

Content and Scoring

The Biographical Assessment consists of 114 multiple-choice questions. The questions explore your personality traits and your approach to work. Topics include:

- Approaches to decision making
- Handling pressure, risk, and uncertainty
- Reactions to criticism, mistakes, and setbacks
- Teamwork and communication styles and preferences
- Efficiency, accuracy, and prioritization
- Confidence and initiative
- Responsibility and reliability
- Learning styles and technological aptitude
- Et cetera

The test is administered as part of the initial online application process. After you submit your application on USAJobs, you will be forwarded the FAA employment website (AVIATOR). There, you will complete a few additional components of the application and you will be prompted to take the Biographical Assessment.

It is not publicly disclosed how the BA is scored. It is reasonable to assume that the assessment selects for certain characteristics that are persistent and valuable in air traffic controllers, such as: efficient decision making, poise under pressure, perseverance, and reliable teamwork.

https://123atc.com/biographical-assessment

Although the Biographical Assessment was discontinued in 2018, I can easily agree with the idea that a candidate that failed this assessment perhaps should not be directing air traffic, regardless of their age, sex, color, or veteran status.

As always, there’s a bit more to the story than what the propagandists want to tell.

[huckelberry]

Chap, Gadianton, and Canpakes each made good extended replies worth considering. Thank you.

[canpakes]

.
Seeking out and hiring veterans is an integral component of DEI.

How to Include Veterans in Your DEI Plan

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are directed toward several diversity groups based around classifications such as culture, age, gender, sexuality, disability, race, nationality, and pregnancy. It is imperative to include veterans in this group. The men and women who make up the United States military as members of our Navy, Army, Marines, Coast Guards, Air Force, Space Force, National Guard, and Reserves dedicate their lives and time to serving us.

Of the millions who join, a significant number of them return to civilian life needing jobs. The unemployment rate for male veterans was 6.5% in 2020, and for female veterans, it was 6.7%. Although veterans bring some of the most sought-after hard and soft skills to the hiring pool, many find work as a civilian can be a struggle. There can be a lack of understanding of getting veterans employed from both the organizational side and on the veteran side.

…

Understanding Bias Toward Veterans

An important factor in recruiting, hiring, engaging, and retaining veterans is understanding how to prevent bias. Bias refers to people's conscious or unconscious judgments that are a result of our own experiences or cultural background.

These judgments are often harmful to diversity initiatives because they limit our ability to see people as individuals with unique talents to contribute. For example, bias against veterans includes assuming they have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or mental health problems just because of their military background, assuming they have a particular personality type, such as being rigid or stern. Some may assume that they do not have the skills to work outside of a military setting. It's essential to put assumptions aside and ask meaningful questions to learn the truth instead.

There are many benefits to including veterans as part of your DEI strategy. When organizations increase the diversity of their staff, they grow, and they save money. Different cultural backgrounds in the workplace create an environment with several talents and many problem-solving perspectives.

The most significant benefits of hiring veterans include the many skills that they bring. Soft skills and engagement are often the most critical determining factors of employee success. Hiring veterans increase your human capital value and provide tax breaks for your company. If your company can apply veteran skills to hiring needs and effectively recruit and engage veterans, they can contribute to your organization in invaluable ways.

https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/dei/c ... i-plan/amp

Unfortunately, people who focus predominantly on color will only see color when they consider DEI. That can’t be fixed by anything or anyone other than the afflicted person themselves, and too many people in that situation would rather tear down something else rather than reassess their own presuppositions.

[Jersey Girl]

What are your thoughts on DEI policies?

Thanks for asking! I'm going to go out on a limb and say exactly what I think about DEI policies. I think that the only reason you're concerned about this right now is because Trump and his rhetoric is having the exact effect on you that he intended to. That is to say, you (and perhaps a majority of Americans) are being successfully manipulated by the chaos-maker in charge. So congrats, you are one in many.

In the case of the recent catastrophic air collision in DC, instead of responding with sympathy and reassurance, Trump took the opportunity to plant yet another DEI seed in the mind of the American public. It's working really well!

It was he and his administration who further stripped the FAA of it's work force. Hmmm...could that be why he wants us to get riled up over DEI?

In his response to the air disaster, Trump blamed Obama and Biden and their DEI policies for the the air collision.

Question: If Trump was so opposed to DEI policies then why didn't HE rescind them in HIS FIRST TERM?

Why's he bitching about this stuff now? Oh yeah...FAA reduction in force on HIS watch...air collision on HIS WATCH.

He's deflecting.

And he's doing it in rapid fire with this and multiple other issues and actions so YOU don't have time to think about it.

Like the fact that he did nothing about DEI that he claims to oppose in his first term.
Like the fact that he RIF'd the FAA beyond it's ability to function.

Keep your eye on the ball and notice just exactly what he's accomplishing--->Nothing but riling up America and it's citizens. Absolutely NOTHING. It's setting fires of temporary chaos here and there. His activity is going to cost US dearly in active litigation filings and the time and efforts of political leaders untying his rats nest of knots instead of moving our country forward. It's going to cost US in time and money and even our health and well being. Interruptions in research studies, lowering the cost of prescription drugs is out the window, public health information on NIH and CDC that is now publicly unavailable, funding for school programs, the list is extensive.

He's racking up quite a hefty bill there while he lives large. Sound at all familiar? He's running the biggest business on the planet and running it straight into the ground.

What's he going to do? File for bankruptcy?

I'm not going back and forth on this or any other recent executive order's or issues. He WANTS us to lose sight of the ball. He WANTS our attention taken away from his incompetence.

P.S. How's the price of bacon and eggs doing? Has breakfast been saved yet?

[Gunnar]

Top Republican Overseeing FAA Says DEI Didn't Have 'Anything to Do' With DC Plane Crash

At last! A Republican with a backbone!

The top Republican overseeing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has asserted that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies did not have "anything to do" with the Washington, DC, plane crash following unfounded claims from lawmakers.

Missouri Rep. Sam Graves, who chairs the House Transportation Committee and supervises the FAA, pushed back against President Donald Trump's assertion that previously instated DEI policies could be blamed for the deadly crash, as reported by Politico.

"I don't think it had anything to do with this particular accident. I have concerns about DEI within the FAA and for that matter all the transportation agencies, but I've had that concern now for years," Graves told the outlet.

The representative stated that he believed it would be wise to wait until the investigation concludes to decide if legislative action is needed.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says Trump 'Gutted the Aviation Safety Committee Last Week,' Blames Him, Elon for DC Crash

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez added air traffic controllers were understaffed before Trump's return to in-person work mandate
Taylor Odisho / Published Jan 30 2025, 4:10 PM EST

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blamed the tragic American Airlines and Army helicopter collision President Donald Trump and Elon Musk for gutting the Aviation Safety Committee.

In an X post shared on Thursday, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed fingers at the sitting president and head of the Department of Government Efficiency for the airplane collision that claimed 67 lives Wednesday night.

"I represent LaGuardia airport as well as workers for JFK," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez started her post. "Trump gutted the Aviation Safety committee last week."

"Air traffic controllers - already understaffed - got Trump's 'buyout' this week with a 1 week ultimatum to decide. It's not DEI - it's him. And Elon too," she continued.

Her statement was in response to Trump telling reporters during a press briefing on Thursday that the crash "could have been" the result of diversity hiring.

I already alluded to this in another thread: viewtopic.php?p=2885957#p2885957

Eugene Vindman also pointed out that Trump had gutted the Aviation Security Advisory Committee weeks before the tragic accident. Trump obviously wanted to deflect attention from his own actions that could well have contributed to the disaster.

[Jersey Girl]

Gunnar, from your above post.

"Air traffic controllers - already understaffed - got Trump's 'buyout' this week with a 1 week ultimatum to decide. It's not DEI - it's him. And Elon too," she continued.

What needs to happen is that conclusion to come out of the mouths of Republican elected officials. Sam Graves (your above) moved towards that. Granted it was only a small move but waiting for the results of the investigation (which will take time) is the way to go. Then there will be evidence with which to base any finger pointing on.

Not like Trump who simply shot from the hip with NO evidence except for his bigotry and revenge campaign. Keep in mind at all times that when he blames Obama and Biden for DEI policies and hires...there was a President who "served" in between them who to my knowledge did nothing to rescind to repeal DEI policies.

That's HIM.

Wait until Veterans get a load of what he's done to THEM and let's see if anything shakes loose in Congress. I want to see Republican senators openly justify that impact.

Think I better go back into ostrich mode instead of spending time commenting here. My head isn't completely in the sand. I'm watching it unfold from afar.

[Jersey Girl]

One more thing. I had said this in the above and pulled it out as I revised my thoughts. Anyway...the Republican congress folk are the ones who can turn this around. I think that those of us who are opposed would do well to call and/or write to our state reps, get on their Republican asses and threaten their jobs. There's more of us to put their jobs in jeopardy than there is Trump.

I think the American public (who are directly affected) with Congress can steam roll over this guy if we put our collective minds to it and act accordingly.

[huckelberry]

What are your thoughts on DEI policies? Do you think the NBA should adopt DEI policies?

The NBA represents a substantial enterprise valued at 11.34 billion dollars. The majority of the owners of the 30 NBA teams are white, while 70% of the players are black.

In your view, how might DEI policies contribute to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the NBA? Should the NBA consider transferring ownership of certain teams to individuals from diverse racial backgrounds?

It would be beneficial for more white and Asian players to participate on the court, particularly in televised games, so that viewers of all backgrounds can feel represented while enjoying the sport. If DEI policies are implemented in the NBA, does that imply that among the ten players on the court, half should be white?

Should the NBA then prioritize recruiting white men and Asians over black men?

Hound, I do not see that this has happened because of DEI. I do not expect that it will in the future. I suspect there reason is that nobody is required to apply DEI in the dumb and blind ways you fear are to happen. People can use good judgment. There are thousands of people or groups making hiring decisions. I suppose some few might find a way to hire with poor judgement. I do not think any will proceed in the extreme blind way of your first example and fail to hire necessary workers.

Why are you experiencing these strange fears? I can see some sense in your concern for better handling of border crossing and refugee requests. I am just not getting this DEI thing as in your first example.

[Gunnar]

The discriminatory circumstances I just described are occurring nationwide, impacting individuals careers and their family lives. I still believe that we lost the election due to two primary factors: the border and DEI.

Border issues were a factor in losing the election only because Trump refused to accept a fair, bipartisan immigration reform legislation in order to capitalize on the border crisis for his political advantage. The same thing is pretty much true about the DEI issue. Trump and his MAGA mischaracterized and demonized DEI and "wokeness" to appeal to the latent bigotry and intolerance that still exists in too many of us.

As I posted a couple of times before: viewtopic.php?p=2882342#p2882342 DEI and MEI complement each other and should ideally be equally emphasized.