Pretend Monarch Trump celebrated Juneteenth by announcing that he thought there were too many federal holidays. His statement came just a few days after he gleefully announced before a gathering of U.S. troops that several U.S. military bases would again be named after insurrectionist Confederate generals, thus undoing Biden Administration efforts to cease paying homage to the Civil War insurrectionists. His offensive words and actions were not out of character for him. They fit the focused effort of his pretend monarchy to purge our federal government of all traces of diversity, equity and inclusion policy.
The DEI purge has penetrated all facets of our federal government. Department of Defense histories and photo collections have been altered to eliminate the accomplishments of minority and female members of the military. Transgender military personnel are being forced out of service to our nation. Minority and female highest ranking military leaders have been removed from their posts. Computer-driven word check has been used to screen existing federal grants and grant requests for buzz words that would suggest DEI initiatives which then leads to disapproval. Federal employees from a wide range of government departments have been terminated if their work touches upon DEI goals.
The DEI purge is supported in theory by the assertion that DEI is the antithesis of merit-based selection or the notion that DEI and merit considerations cannot coexist. Hidden in this assertion is the unstated belief that merit is to be found only among white males. This belief has long been recognized as the foundation of sexism and racism. Yet, tens of millions of Americans applaud the DEI purge convinced that DEI policy is all about nonsensical governmental action running amuck with wasteful spending resulting in the rewarding of incompetence and ineptness.
I cannot claim that all spending in the name of DEI has been free of inefficiency or waste. But I do support diversity, equity and inclusion goals and objectives. Understanding the meaning of the terms is an essential first step in evaluating the wisdom of DEI policy. As a nation of immigrants, we have long recognized the diverse nature of our population with respect to national origin, race, color, ethnic grouping, religion and gender. Supporters of DEI seek to celebrate and benefit from our diversity knowing that great talent and ability will be found in all peoples who reside among us. Failure to acknowledge this is to limit the unveiling of talent to a diminishing portion of our population.
Equity is perhaps the least understood of DEI policy goals. While we seek equal treatment of all persons under the laws, the concept of equity includes an understanding that we are not all currently situated equally regarding our lifes condition. Some among us may require a needed boost that others may not require if an equal opportunity to succeed if our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness is to be realized. Disadvantaged white males may be among those in need of a boost. Perhaps that boost will be in the form of government sponsored job training or a Pell Grant or numerous other governments-sponsored assistance programs. Equity does not include the necessity to hire, promote and retain unqualified persons in either the private of public sector.
Inclusion policy is intended to overcome tokenism in organization behavior. Inclusion policy is founded on the belief that diverse persons with special knowledge, talents and skills can contribute meaningfully to the success of all aspects of organization behavior and therefore ought to be immersed throughout the organization structure rather than just being propped up as a form of window dressing.
Pursuit of DEI policy ought not be seen as a zero-sum contest. White males are not denied their opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness because of DEI policy implementation. DEI policy can result in more and more Americans succeeding in that pursuit along with white males like me.
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