This week, former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams discussed Democrats’ 2024 strategy on MSNBC.
Ms. Abrams detailed what she sees as one of the biggest threats to democracy. Ms. Abrams did not mention Donald Trump, the left’s usual suspect for threats to democracy, but instead chose a different threat.
Stacey Abrams said this is the latest wave of rejection of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in American institutions and has the potential to destroy democracy. Let’s see if her argument has any merit.
DEI is hard to eradicate
Like many progressives, Stacey Abrams is unhappy with the Republican governor’s latest move to close DEI offices. Stacey Abrams said in an interview with Al Sharpton:
“We know that an attack on diversity, equity and inclusion in DEI is an attack on democracy, an attack on education…”
According to Ms. Abrams’ statement, closing DEI offices on college campuses impedes educational progress and threatens to destroy democracy. The reality of what DEI does for education and democracy is much different.
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Unfortunately, even as states like Florida and Texas take steps to eradicate DEI, harmful ideologies still have a firm grip on higher education’s throats.
The following is a sample of current DEI recruiting requirements at various universities:
- Suffolk University is seeking a civil rights professor with experience “at the intersection of law and race, gender and sexual orientation.” Additionally, candidates must explain how they will advance the school’s “commitment to diversity and inclusion” through teaching, scholarship or service.
- Syracuse University is seeking a director of academic and bar success who will emphasize the development of “diversity and inclusion excellence.”
- UCLA School of Law is seeking professors with experience supporting “equity and diversity” and will be required to submit a “formal statement of contributions to diversity.”
- NYU School of Law is seeking a scholar to “lead a new initiative to defend DEI” on campus.
It’s hard to argue that DEI is dying in education when it remains so prevalent in college recruiting practices.
American nightmare
In her argument for DEI ideology, Ms. Abrams cited the names of two of her fellow liberals as evidence that DEI works. She went on to say that attacks on DEI are:
“…an attack on the way our economy works because Senators Ossoff and Warnock represent the path to the American dream…”
Naming two senators with ties to marginalized groups as examples of the “American Dream” does not prove that DEI provides the same services to Americans at large. In fact, the economy under President Joe Biden has caused many millennials and young people to abandon the American dream.
Owning a home is more expensive than ever. As inflation outpaces salary income month after month, saving for retirement becomes more challenging.
DEI initiatives do not create a path to the American Dream. Instead, they created segregation ramps that divided Americans into convenient demographic categories.
Most often, these categories are broadly defined as the preferred minority groups at the time. Meanwhile, all others become oppressors because they are unsociable or unruly.
Take David Porter, professor of statistics at North Carolina State University. He was punished for voicing DEI concerns within his field and department.
Or Elizabeth Weiss, professor of anthropology at San Jose State University. She was rejected by the department for daring to stand up to the DEI cult.
DEI is not there to bring people together and lift them up. It was used to identify dissenters and root them out.
RELATED: MSNBC’s Joy Reid says there’s something ‘very poetic’ about DEI officials prosecuting Trump
painful evidence
Ms. Abrams went on to claim that Senators Ossoff and Warnock were:
“…the evidence points and those evidence points scare people who want the world to become narrow and restrictive.”
Now that Ms. Abrams has presented her evidence, I should also present some of my own. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has grim results.
Only 22% of eighth graders are proficient in civics and only 13% are proficient in U.S. history. Grade-level math and reading scores were at their lowest in a decade.
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Taking college students as an example, it is estimated that 67% of major universities require students to take some form of DEI coursework, regardless of their preferred field of study. Yet, according to a recent Campus Expression survey, a record number of students are reluctant to discuss controversial issues in courses on related topics:
- 47% are unwilling to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 45% are unwilling to discuss politics
- 30% are unwilling to discuss religion
Those who speak out against DEI want the world to become “narrow and restrictive,” which some would say is “throwing fire under the kettle.” Nothing is more narrow and restrictive than the idea of DEI.
wise words
Stacey Abrams expressed her thoughts on DEI with this gem:
“We must remember that every victory contains the seeds of failure, and every failure contains the seeds of victory.”
The eloquent words of the great Prime Minister Churchill. Ironically, the most prolific election denier of modern times offers wisdom on how best to respond to defeat.
Regardless, she’s right. Conservatives and those who believe in free thought and diversity should be careful not to rely on their few victories in the fight against DEI.
Regardless of whether offices dedicated to DEI remain open, DEI will continue to exist. Just like the terrorist virus; it’s built on hate, and if there’s anything humans are good at, it’s hate.
DEI is an attack on democracy, and its persistence has weakened every institution in America. Sorry, Stacey, but as Elon Musk points out, DEI must die for democracy to flourish again.
