Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

 The benefits of programs in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are so self-evident it seems bizarre to have to defend them. Start with “it’s the right thing to do.” All Christians claim to live by the Golden Rule. Pick the form of this rule you prefer:

·       Treat others as you would like others to treat you (positive or directive form)

·       Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form)

·       What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathetic or responsive form)

This ‘rule’ describes DEI quite well and should be the end of this essay.

Alas, it is not.

Allegedly good Christians – plus quite a number of all-purpose assholes – rant against DEI as though it were a quota program designed to place unqualified people in positions of importance and responsibility. If that were the case, the recent election would qualify as a DEI program par excellence, as never before have less qualified people been given more critical responsibilities.

All DEI means is that everyone is treated fairly. Period. The argument too often used against it runs like this: “Would you want a DEI hire [sic] to operate on you?” To which I reply, “There are no such things as ‘DEI hires,’ and I’d damn sure rather have a woman/Black/Hispanic/Indian (dot or feather; either one)/LGBTQIA+ person operate on me than some white guy who got the job because he knew the right people or, even worse, his father knew the right people.

This is not a perspective I hold because I’m some ‘woke’ liberal; I phrased a couple of things here to show I am most certainly not what the average person would consider woke. I’m also not so sleepy I don’t know what’s right.

It’s no accident America solidified its place in the world in the years after we became more interested in equality. Our diversity is our strength. It’s been proven the best decisions are made by teams with diverse memberships, if only because you (or I) can’t imagine what you (or I) can’t imagine. (See Steven Johnson’s wonderful book Farsighted for details.)

Those who rail against DEI programs can safely be placed in one or more of several categories:

·       Racists

·       Misogynists

·       Xenophobes

·       Homophobes, transphobes, or whatever the term is for hating on the entre LGBTQIA+ community

·       Someone who thinks the pie of opportunity has a finite number of slices and that anything someone else gets is something they cannot have for themselves

·       Selfish bastards

The Beloved Spouse™ and I are taking pains to avoid people and businesses that are anti-DEI, or have backed away from their DEI programs since Felon – who matches all of the above descriptions – took office. We do not have unlimited resources, so we’re not perfect, but dramatic changes have been made.

To name a few:

·       Stopped buying from Amazon and will let my Prime subscription expire when it runs out;

·       Stopped selling my books on Amazon altogether;

·       Stopped shopping at Target or Lowe’s. I never did shop at Walmart.

·       Moved away from Chrome as my browser and Google Maps for directions. (G-mail and Calendar are more problematic, considering how intricately intertwined they are with other things);

·       Have not eaten at Chick Fil-A for several years

·       Cancelled our subscription to the Washington Post;

With all this in mind, I have two questions for you, thanks to Sean Connery in the film The Untouchables:

1.    What are you prepared to do?

2.    If you don’t think what’s above is enough, what would you have me do?