Publisher's Synopsis
With rapidity and stealth, the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) ideology has come to replace the classical liberal values of merit, excellence, and intelligence (MEI).
The time for a national debate over the conflicting values of DEI and MEI is long overdue in the academy, professional organizations, media, government and large technology companies. DEI bureaucracies have mushroomed and many operate behind the scenes with ambiguous DEI definitions, goals and policies.
Who originated DEI? Why DEI and not another set of laudable values? Does "equity" refer to opportunity or result? How do those of mixed race fit in diversity assessments? Is the goal of racial representation proportionate to that of the population, the history of marginalization, or something else? DEI terms are defined so obtusely that they can refer to a spectrum of policies from mere platitudes to radical agendas including litmus tests and racial quotas.
In its most radical forms, DEI is derivative of neo-Marxist identitarian ideologies that attribute virtually all average group differences-from arrest rates to medical school admissions-to systemic discrimination. However, average group differences in outcomes can reflect a variety of factors as shown in Thomas Sowell's Social Justice Fallacies.
DEI is a significant cultural and ideological revolution, one that has been accomplished with almost no debate or operationalization of terminology. The unexamined acceptance of DEI, however defined, is surprising in a free society where critics are encouraged to challenge and debate significant social changes. DEI means many different things to many different people, but one thing remains constant-DEI backers, left wing media, and bureaucrats continue to avoid debating their critics.
Just as Alabama segregationist governor George Wallace never debated Martin Luther King, DEI backers with institutional power show no enthusiasm for defending their ideas in real debates. Without vigorous open and civil debate, DEI bureaucracies will continue to impose doctrinal training programs, litmus tests, censorship and discrimination. Unless this is challenged, we risk entering a new era of institutionalized McCarthyism and the demise of a free and prosperous multi-cultural America.
