Misunderstanding DEI

[cahwyguy]

And to think it has been only a week. Le sigh.

Trmp has been a busy little boy, trying to root any any whiff of DEI in the Federal Government, and through being a bully, almost everywhere else too. But I don’t think Trmp, or his allies, have put a lot of thought into it. Their belief, it seems, is that DEI means that unqualified people are getting the job simply because they check some boxes, and qualified people (which in Trmp’s eyes mean white males) are not.

That is nonsense.

All DEI does, primarily, is get applications into the door. It helps make all people aware of job opportunities, so they will apply. After that, they still need to meet the requirements of the jobs. Assuming all the job requirements are met, the employer is free to pick whomever they want. Sometimes, that’s the white guy. Sometimes, it’s not. Further, diversity is often more than just protected characteristics: It can mean picking people with different background, or different experiences, or different schools. All that leads to a better workforce. But the key thing is: all these people are equally skilled.

So what is Trmp really after? It becomes clear in his gutting of the Lyndon Johnson era EO: He wants to gut equal opportunity. He wants the freedom to discriminate. This is shown in his gutting of the investigative arms that would prosecute discrimination claims. His executive orders claim they are equal opportunity, but if someone discriminates, they can get away with it.

He’s also taking the time to gut offices related to accessibility and accommodation. That’s going against the ADA, and there will be likely lawsuits against that. Of course, the legal team in the DOJ that would prosecute such cases … dismissed.

In doing all of this, he’s being true to what he has always been: someone who is against minorities (which is well known in his real estate dealings), and someone who is against those differently abled (remember his mocking of Biden’s stutter or the disabled reporter). We also know his attitude towards women.

This leopard never met a face he didn’t like to eat.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Misunderstanding DEI by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.