(C) Missouri Independent
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A few decades will not make up for centuries of disenfranchisement and discrimination • Missouri Independent [1]
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Date: 2024-12-02
Is it ignorance, amnesia, hypocrisy or some combination thereof that is fueling the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives?
There is a growing and rallying cry to get rid of DEI programs and policies in both the public and private sectors.
Why?
The surge to turn the clock back has been inspired by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action goals being used in the college admission process. That ruling seems to have opened the flood gates and emboldened public institutions and private companies.
There is no longer a need to consider race, ethnicity or gender when it comes to education, employment or any business commerce.
Many, comfortable that affirmative action is dead or dying, have now set their aim at DEI programs.
Many colleges are closing their DEI programs. Some major businesses are doing the same. Walmart being the latest.
Diversity. Equity. Inclusion.
Isn’t that what America is supposed to be about?
We need not be or remain ignorant if we are willing to remember or learn about the history of this country.
When it comes to diversity, who do you think built and continues to make this country what it is? Immigrants from countries near and far — who came voluntarily and by force. Whites came freely from many ethnic groups, some as indentured servants. Blacks came against their will in shackles as slaves.
When it comes to equity, we need not look beyond the preamble to the Constitution that declares all men are created equal and endowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But that preamble, let alone many of the subsequent constitutional amendments, has yet to be fully realized during the nearly 250 years of this country’s existence for all legitimate citizens.
If anyone is unfamiliar with the savagery and disenfranchisement that centuries of the institution of slavery did to make every aspect of life in America — access to a good education, a good job, a decent housing — unavailable for Blacks, then you are living in an alternative, unrealistic universe.
It is undeniable that if it were not for affirmative action and DEI programs, the march toward making many aspects of the Constitution a reality for Black citizens would not have gotten as far as it has, which still has a long way to go.
Blacks still lag far behind in many measures of a quality of life in this country no matter how educated they are or how hard they work.
The primary reason is a lack of access caused by the persistent and pernicious practice of racism, which is a socio-economic construct that remains a driving force in every aspect of American life.
Then there is the need for deliberate efforts of inclusion.
While not as oppressive or disenfranchising as the Black experience in this country, women have also been excluded and denied rights.
There are other legitimate and immigrant minority groups seeking to exercise all the rights and privileges of what it means to be an American citizen.
At a minimum, it is downright hypocritical to promote the notion that all citizens — irrespective of race, gender or ethnicity — have equal access and opportunity to a quality education, equal employment, affordable housing even when they are capable and qualified.
There are some disturbing questions worth pondering.
Is the march to shut down DEI programs a brazen effort to perpetuate and reinstate inequality based on the false notion of white supremacy and privilege?
Is it a move to promote an illusion or revisionist history that America was not built and currently maintained by the hard work of Blacks, women, and other people of color?
So, what are the long-term goals of dismantling efforts to make life better for all American citizens?
What is the end game? Who will benefit? Who will continue to be oppressed and disenfranchised?
It is easy to remain in denial or assuage one’s conscience, choose to ignore the lasting and visible impact of discrimination, and even now claim reverse discrimination—believing that attempts to correct these inhumane and egregious wrongs are now discrimination against the offsprings of oppressors.
A few decades of applying Band-Aids cannot cure the root causes of diseases that were allowed to go untreated for centuries no matter how long we want to fool ourselves, or absolve ourselves in perpetual denial and ignorance.
It need not be a choice of one or the other. Neither exacting absolution nor inflicting guilt about the past is the goal.
Moving forward in believing and practicing a common humanity should be.
When all the Affirmative Actions and DEI efforts and programs have been barred or voluntarily shut down, are we to believe that capable and qualified people will be treated equally, irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity or other differences?
Are we to believe that the oppression and exploitation of Blacks and other minority groups will cease, and that equal opportunity and equal investments in providing a quality education, equal employment opportunities, and blighted housing and neglected communities will be addressed?
If the past is prologue, why should we?
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