By Emily Kim Jenkins, Contributing Writer
The mayor donned a purple hoodie on the Joy Reid Show. The interview aired only a day after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, when a container ship lost power partway through its journey and couldn’t redirect course.
The hoodie read “From Baltimore, With Love” in bold, white lettering. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was appearing on the show not just to talk about the bridge collapse, but specifically to address a particular comment made. A post on X (formerly Twitter) quickly spread in which Scott’s response was criticized, labeling him the “DEI mayor” and warned of things getting “so, so much worse.”
The term “DEI,” which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion, has become a highly politicized, quickly recognized acronym– almost instantaneously, Americans can often feel the user’s intended purpose behind the denoted meaning.
“What they mean by DEI in my opinion is ‘duly elected incumbent’,” Mayor Scott told Reid. “We know what they want to say, but they don’t have the courage to say the N-word.”
Jennifer Saul, Chair in Social and Political Philosophy of Language at University of Waterloo, wrote for The Conversation, “It’s hard to find a hot-button issue or social context where DEI can’t be hurled as a term of abuse to undermine marginalized people.”
Left-wing politicians argue that the right wing uses DEI as a racist dog whistle to hide hateful speech. Right-wing politicians argue that the left wing uses DEI as a way to legally discriminate. So how did it become so convoluted?
Where did DEI initiatives come from?
This constantly evolving term comes from another term that, although not used as frequently now, is still fairly controversial: affirmative action. The phrase “affirmative action” was first coined by a 1961 executive order by former President John F. Kennedy, which instructed government contractors to “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and… treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” In 1965, this was expanded to all federal government entities as Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO).
These programs were upheld but changed by the Supreme Court in 1978 when Allan Bakke, a former Marine, applied to UC Davis’ medical school. Despite Bakke’s positive recommendations from his interviews with the school, high GPA and well-above average MCAT score, he was rejected twice.
Upon his second rejection, he sued, arguing that UC Davis’ interpretation of affirmative action was discriminatory. The case made its way to the Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld affirmative action’s constitutionality, but barred UC Davis’ reserved-minority-seating program. This opinion was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2023, stating that race-based affirmative action was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Affirmative action continued to be on the ballot in one form or another for California voters for years, but the usage of the term began to wane. In 2019, a study done by Insight into Diversity found that spending on ‘diversity’ efforts had increased by 27 percent since 2014. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, The Economist found that worldwide, new hires with ‘diversity’ or ‘inclusion’ in their job title had nearly doubled in a single year, between 2020 and 2021.
Why do DEI programs exist?
Since affirmative action and diversity planning has always had roots in higher education, it is no surprise that colleges and universities were at the forefront of incorporating diversity programs into their processes.
Dr. Samuel Song, an Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at San Diego State University, says they’re essential to student success.
“It really benefits education. There’s a lot of freedom of speech and thought… What’s linked to DEI [are] changes in our educational landscape,” he said. He noted that women’s sports and Title IX came around as a result of DEI initiatives long before the term was popularized.
In the workplace, these programs function differently and their effectiveness is debated. According to a WebMD Health Services study, 9 in 10 surveyed workers nationwide say their employer has some sort of DEI program in place. 62 percent say they believe they’re ineffective, while 46 percent say their employer’s program has failed them personally. A Pew Research Center study found that a narrow majority of 56% of Americans feel that DEI practices are generally good, but these opinions are highly split among demographic lines.
How did the term become part of a partisan divide?
With the 2023 Supreme Court ruling, efficacy in the workplace in question and ten states completely barring race-based affirmative action from academic admissions, DEI has become a political battleground. Debate around whether these practices are necessary or harmful have long divided Americans, but after a boom in the diversity industry in 2021, criticism grew stronger and the phrase began taking on a negative connotation, especially in conservative circles.
Elon Musk posted on X, “DEI is just another word for racism.” Dinesh D’Souza drew a unique distinction between terms when calling Claudine Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, a “DEI hire,” saying, “affirmative action hires are merely incompetent. DEI hires are malevolent mouthpieces…” The Washington Post called liberal activist investor Bill Ackman “America’s leading anti-DEI crusader.” Florida Governor Ron Desantis said, “If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination.”
While their approaches may be more incendiary, Cynthia Kaui, president of the San Diego Young Republicans, hopes the next generation of conservatives has a different approach.
“We do care about ensuring that all types of voices are represented. Perhaps when we get into the nitty-gritty in regards to specifics or some aspects of [DEI initiatives], there will definitely be some disagreements and there’s no shame in admitting that,” she said, “I’m personally not one of those people that thinks ‘if you’re not for me, you’re against me’… I would hope and pray that Republicans can improve their messaging on that. That’s something that I’m aiming to change with Young Republicans.”
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