DEI = Racist

[I Have Questions]

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.

The reason the majority of NBA owners are white is because it's been the domain of white people to make serious money in America whereas black people have historically been discriminated against. White people in America have a 300 year head start in terms of general society, education, and employment opportunities. There are a lot of people in America that don't want to see that white advantage diminish. Which is why government initiatives are necessary. Fortunately the NBA is trying to overcome it. Here is a link to their stated objectives and results so far. Hound, I appreciate you pointing out such a clear example of why DEI is important and how it can work well.
https://inclusion.nba.com

The question that now faces the NBA is whether or not Trump's abandonment of DEI means those majority of white owners will stop all that good work.

[Moksha]

What are your thoughts on DEI policies?

Hound, wouldn't you say that those who benefit from DEI lack purity and delightsomeness?

[Doctor Steuss]

Can you provide an in real life example of this issue happening?

Why is diversity and inclusion important inside a fire department?

Probably because veterans (one of the groups common in DEI outreach programs) have already been conditioned to not allow adrenaline to cloud judgement or impede their training.

[Marcus]

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.

Yes, always a rest of the story. It gets old having to talk to people ho love to share the headline-grabbing part, but who refuse to investigate further. I have one friend who, no matter what he tells me, I respond to with "show me the facts." WITHOUT EXCEPTION. He has yet to do so, after about 8 months of me using this strategy to avoid pointless arguments.

[Molok]

DEI is the new critical race theory, is the new woke, just buzzwords pushed by Republican propagandists which are then uncritically parroted by people like HoH, who have no idea what these terms mean, they just use them as slurs for people of color and LGBTQ.

[Gunnar]

DEI is the new critical race theory, is the new woke, just buzzwords pushed by Republican propagandists which are then uncritically parroted by people like HoH, who have no idea what these terms mean, they just use them as slurs for people of color and LGBTQ.

Either they have no idea what these terms really mean, or they are hateful, insufferable bigots and racists, while calling us the bigots. Classic projection! To them, the only real bigotry is opposition to their own bigotry and hateful prejudice against others who are not like themselves.

[Some Schmo]

DEI is the new critical race theory, is the new woke, just buzzwords pushed by Republican propagandists which are then uncritically parroted by people like HoH, who have no idea what these terms mean, they just use them as slurs for people of color and LGBTQ.

To them, the only real bigotry is opposition to their own bigotry and hateful prejudice against others who are not like themselves.

Nailed it.

The "critics" have no idea what DEI entails, but they get the sense that they can be racist about it without appearing too racist to those who'd condemn their racism but still dog whistle loud and clear to those who love it, so in they go.

I've said it before, but it's another striking example of how racism is just a subcategory of general stupidity. If you are taken to thinking of other cultures and races in stereotypes, you're a damned racist, and obviously not that smart.

[Some Schmo]

I just watched a video talking about how white women are just finding out that a lot of them were hired through DEI programs.

It would be funny if it weren't so tragically stupid. Ignorance is Trump's best friend.

[Gunnar]

I just watched a video talking about how white women are just finding out that a lot of them were hired through DEI programs.

It would be funny if it weren't so tragically stupid. Ignorance is Trump's best friend.

I fear that where this going is that Trump, Musk and his administration will increasingly, and automatically assume that anyone from a minority group that is hired is just another unqualified "DEI" hire, in violation of his anti-DEI executive order, and that people and organizations who hire them will incur increasing risk of being investigated and criminally prosecuted merely for having hired a Black, a woman or some other minority Trump or Musk doesn't like.

[yellowstone123]

Why is diversity and inclusion important inside a fire department?

It's basically like this. If you have a fire department staffed only by white males (i.e. no women, no hispanics, no asians, nobody from the Indian subcontinent), then, not unexpectedly, they will continue to recruit other white males, who will in their turn recruit other white males. And seeing that, people who are not white males may well not even bother to apply.

BUT - as I am sure that HoH will agree, people who objectively possess the necessary mental, moral and physical qualities to become good fire fighters are not necessarily found only in the group labelled 'white males'. As a result, the fire department will recruit from a limited part of the potential fire fighter talent pool, which is clearly likely to mean that the fire department will, on the whole, be likely to be of a lower talent level than it might have been had it recruited more widely.

Now of course this fact is so obvious that you might think that when you explain it to fire fighting recruiters they would simply say 'Goshdarnit! We gotta do something about this!" and the recruitment pool would widen. But it doesn't happen. It seems that the only way you can escape from the fatal "white guys recruit white guy,s who recruit white guys" trap is to disturb the system by saying "OK, next year you have to recruit at least some people who are not white males". This is not a perfect solution, and in an ideal world it would not be necessary. But if you can think of a solution to the rather obvious "white guys recruit white guys for ever" trap that doesn't involve something like that, do let the board know

Chap, you give a real life example of this?

Some Departments will start with a written exam and oral interview.

They combine the two and a person gets a score. Say for example the person ends up with a score 95. The person also served three years in the army so ten points are added to that score so the persons final score is 105.

The person then goes through other types of testing, if the person is still in the selection: medical exam, psychological and background investigation.

Lots of people who have those big numbers don’t pass those parts.

Many times once the Department gets through the 90s they end the testing and then re testing starts over again. The person that had a final score of 85 and served in the military will get a final score 95 with the 10 extra points. That person will be sent on to more formal basic training as an employee of the Department, but then there probation for a year after the training is completed.

Many Departments that deal with public safety swiftly eliminate those testing if they can. Being able to see the green “76” in the orange circle is important at some jobs and if you can’t see the number even though you scored a 105 then the testing stops for that applicant.

Do you want someone with a cognitive disability working as an air traffic controller? All of us have loved ones who take commercial flights.

Even in the late 50s the City of Los Angeles did not hire white guys for public safety positions if they had any convictions. It wasn’t a good ole boys network even though the media produce programs that say it is.

How they select employees today, I have no clue, but I’m sure there are basic education requirements from high school diploma to college degree that need to completed prior for testing to begin.