The death of DEI

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

DEI, we hardly knew ye. DEI is one of the fastest liberal concepts to come and go in nearly the same breath.

Living in the bucolic lands of Highland County, you may never have had to encounter DEI. Lucky you.

DEI is the acronym for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the Left’s latest way to make some of us feel guilty about our good fortune of being born in America and being taught to work for a living. The words may seem familiar, but that middle one, equity, needs a little elucidation.  

Equity in this use is not equality. When we think of equality, we usually think of equal opportunities. The acolytes of DEI will hasten to tell you that equity is equal outcomes. Simple explanation. I have $5 and you have $3. Equity demands that I give you $1 so we each have $4. Equal outcomes – an idea which conveniently ignores how we each acquired our original assets.  

In the last few years, major corporations, universities and governmental institutions have tripped over themselves to hire senior-level folks with the title DEI officer (usually preceded by an honorific such as Executive Vice President of…DEI).

Now, it has been rumored all along that people of Asian descent didn’t quite fit the DEI mold. In a landmark lawsuit in front of the Supreme Court last spring, the good judges disagreed and said yes, indeed, they do. Of course, the defendants in this case, some prestigious universities, immediately went off and had a confab on how they could obey the letter of the law without obeying the spirit of the law.

So much for respecting the Supreme Court.

But it is funny how things develop. A couple of weeks ago, Congress hauled in the heads of three Ivy League Universities (University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and MIT) and queried them about the recent treatment of Jewish students and the widespread anti-Semitism on their campuses.  

All three tried to hide behind the First Amendment, but upon further examination, it was clear that there was little protection for the Jewish students when free speech tuned into harmful physical actions.

As of this writing, the president of the University of Pennsylvania has resigned, and the others are in hot water.

So, it turns out, DEI was not for EVERYONE. This is not surprising. It appears Asians had been excluded, Jews are being excluded, and I’ll bet if the powers that be knew about them, the Melungeons would be excluded, too. (Do you know that Highland County has one of the very few Melungeon communities in the United States?)

The hypocrisy of DEI has been exposed. Goodbye, DEI.  

Equality has no exceptions.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.