One of the most persistent, grating errors that continues to stalk our cultural debate over "diversity, equity, and inclusion" policies is that minorities like them, while white people despise them. The truth is startlingly different: white people are writing them, and minorities are suffering from the consequences.
Take the data that leaked from UCLA last week that showed their medical school had lowered their standards for minority applicants.
No one - black, white, or anyone in between - wants a doctor who is not serious about their studies, just as no one wants the commercial airplane they're flying to be piloted by someone who lacked the skill but got their wings because of their company's diversity concerns.
Competence is independent of skin color and sex. The safety and security of you, me, our kids, and society at large depends upon us collectively affirming that truth.
But while conventional wisdom might be to conclude that white people are disproportionately the ones who feel slighted and angry about this kind of thing, I submit this post written by an agitated, frustrated, and exasperated Christian, black woman. It targets an ever-widening subset of the population that remains willfully blind to the dangers of DEI.
This is the hidden toxicity of DEI. Realizing that people may die as a result of UCLA pushing through under-qualified candidates and low-performing students simply because they match a melanin rubric - it's such an outrageous proposition, it sucks up nearly all of the oxygen amongst opponents of DEI.
But almost as bad are the devastating effects DEI has on the dignity, reputation, trust, and respect that should belong to minority professionals.
Notice how Micah is absolutely right. There are countless minority professionals who have worked diligently, relentlessly studying, learning, and preparing themselves to be the best. Despite many obstacles - including those that some of their peers do not experience - they persevere and succeed.
But because of DEI policies, the public now views their professionalism through the lens of skepticism:
- "Are you really a good doctor, or did you just get this job because you're black?"
- "Do you think that lady actually is a good pilot or are we about to die because American Airlines wanted to boast about how many women they hired?"
These are the snap judgments and unavoidable prejudices that are fostered by DEI policies. Maybe they were intended to help. Maybe in the hearts of its architects, DEI wasn't really meant to be about reverse racism, corner cutting, or unfair advantages. But that is what it breeds, and equally as important, that is how it appears to the general population.
Far from encouraging racial harmony, it produces contempt, rivalry, and enmity between us. And, in the end, it will have a devastating effect on the livelihood of all black (and minority) people. How so?
Commentator Allie Beth Stuckey expressed precisely why:
It's true that qualified, competent white people suffer when they are unjustly excluded by DEI policies.
It's true that all of us suffer when subjected to the incompetence and unpreparedness of individuals who have been gifted vital positions affecting the public safety because of DEI policies.
But let's not forget it is also equally, dreadfully true that competent, skilled, hard-working minority individuals suffer when they are belittled, demeaned, and disgraced by DEI policies.
