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February 3, 2025 By Herb Booker

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) may be the most politically charged issue in the country today. Essentially, the far-right and specifically Donald Trump sycophants and associates have promoted anti-DEI rhetoric to the corporate boardrooms and inside the federal government in addition to the industrial military complex, but the question is, what is DEI exactly?

The best definition of DEI that I have found is that DEI is about embracing the differences everyone brings to the table, whether it is someone’s race, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability or other aspects of social identity. It’s about treating everyone fairly and providing equal opportunities. It’s about respecting everyone’s voice and creating a culture where people from all backgrounds feel encouraged to express their ideas and perspectives.

There is nothing in the definition of DEI that talks about discriminating against members of the majority. I haven’t heard of anyone yet complain that they didn’t get hired, weren’t promoted or got fired due to DEI

Let’s be clear, I do not support discrimination in hiring and promotions against any person due to race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation or social orientation, and that definitely includes White males, but in my opinion, there is a significant amount of White grievance among the far right. The anti-DEI movement seeks to keep minorities from getting good or high-profile jobs by intimating that minorities are somehow not qualified as a justification.

Trump sycophants will just walk into corporation’s boardroom and throw around DEI like a bat in an effort to get the company to eliminate their DEI programs, with potential retribution from Donald Trump lurking. It now seems that anything bad that happens in society will get blamed on DEI. They even refer to specific people as a DEI person such as, DEI mayor, DEI governor, DEI police officer, DEI pilot, a DEI walking down the street, a DEI talking on the phone and on and on.

The majority is not being discriminated against. Members of the majority have never been disparaged systematically, and the anti-DEI movement is just an excuse to keep the thumb on historically disparaged groups because they are making too many gains in education and employment, and ascending to higher and more prominent positions. For some, that is cause for resentment. Many on the far right essentially want a return to a Jim Crow style era where everyone was not required to compete, and many weren’t allowed to compete. They want a return to the 1950’s and early 1960’s when minorities for all practical purposes didn’t exist, and June Cleaver was wearing her pearls and bouffant hair style while handing lunches to Beaver, Wally and Ward Cleaver on the way out the door.

Donald Trump is shutting down all DEI offices in the federal government and in the military. Trump’s assertion that DEI is discriminatory to Whites doesn’t make much sense in the hiring of federal employees, because there have been laws on the books for decades mandating that all federal employees should be hired based solely on merit. I don’t even think Trump realizes this fact.

The far right made the point that military recruiting was down and blamed it on DEI and Woke policies. The military responded and stated that 77% of all young people did not qualify to enter the military. With over 40% of the military being racial or ethnic minorities, those minority military personnel currently serving are obviously highly qualified.

Trump announced reparations for white people that were discriminated against because of DEI. He says he will ask the Justice Department to penalize colleges that consider diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and fine them so he can pay restitution to white people who he considers the real victims of racial discrimination, As soon as I heard that, I naturally assumed the victims must have had ancestors that were enslaved, maybe couldn’t get a home mortgage due to redlining, or maybe they had a little trouble finding a water fountain. I was waiting for Trump to put out a new commercial showing a Maga shivering in the snow with the voice-over saying, ” For just $19 a month, less than the price of a cup of coffee, you can provide life-saving DEI protection to a maga, and also water, shelter and a hand full of crumbs.

SERIOUSLY, THE ANTI-DEI MOVEMENT IS A SCAM. It’s another Trump scam that Trump is providing to his supporters to ensure they are sufficiently satiated, while he picks their pockets with tariffs to pay for the billionaire tax cut. Trump had to back off of his tariff threat because he was CRASHING the stock market, and Canada and Mexico decided to hit the bully back in the mouth. When that happened, Trump did what bully’s do. Even magas are beginning to see the light finally realizing that they voted against their own interests.

Trump made a tactical error when he stated last week that DEI may have had something to do with the American Airlines/Black Hawk helicopter crash. Besides the fact that the comment was way out of context, insensitive and a futile attempt to score political points for his anti-DEI derangement, he lost credibility with the subject, and people will start to see that his anti-DEI push is probably way over the top.

I will end by saying that DEI haters don’t know what DEI is other than someone told them it was bad, they don’t know why it is discriminatory and for the life of me, I haven’t found a DEI victim yet. Heck, corporations’ broke revenue records with DEI at the helm, and I haven’t seen a CEO yet that complained that DEI kept them from meeting their fiscal goals.

Alicia Keys said it best at the Grammy Awards when she said, “DEI is not a threat, it is a gift“.

All opinions herein are solely the opinions of Herb Booker. Comments are welcome and can be sent to hbooker2@yahoo,com, or at the bottom of this page. Next week “Critical Race Theory: A Political Bowling Ball.