Our Problematic Nation: America Isn’t Down with DEI
This July 4th, Remember That We're Often More Unified Than It Appears
What’s good for DEI programs is good for minorities. And if you’re against DEI, you’re against minorities. That’s the impression you often get from reporters and pundits. One Boston Globe headline put it bluntly: “DEI Denial is the Modern Day Lynching.”
Recent developments—such as the Supreme Court’s rejection of racial preferences and the explosion of campus antisemitism—have left the formerly untouchable DEI industry with as much employment anxiety as an adjunct professor.
And as universities and corporations take a closer look at their overgrown DEI budgets, expect most in the media to double down on casting the controversy as a racially charged battle between good and evil. Consider that the “modern day lynching” claim preceded the recent wave of DEI skepticism.
But there’s a surprising group that complicates the story media outlets want to tell. This group opposes racial preferences, “equity,” and and the DEI industry’s obsession with proportionate representation. This group is known as Americans.
It’s true. In general and for the most part, Americans of all hues share some problematic views about DEI’s sacred truths.
That’s good news for those of us rooting for less tribalism and more free expression, but it’s bad news for DEI Inc. Americans reject at least two of its three pillars.
Take the D—Diversity.
Americans generally support racial diversity. In fact, they usually support affirmative action if it means minority outreach programs and the like. But their enthusiasm erodes when it comes to favoring one group over another in college admissions and hiring.
After examining many recent surveys, I’ve discovered widespread opposition to racial preferences among Americans from all racial groups.
By my tally, a majority of Asians oppose racial preferences in three out of three polls. The same can be said of black respondents in six out of eight polls, and whites in seven out of seven polls. Majorities of Hispanics opposed preferences in five polls, and the numbers were split equally in two polls.
And while Americans think workplace diversity is a good thing, they don’t share Eight Percenters’ monomania. According to the Pew Research Center, only three-in-ten workers say it’s extremely or very important to them to work somewhere with a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities (32%) and ages (28%), while 26% say the same about having about an equal mix of men and women.
Now for the E.