The Trump administration has declared war on diversity, equity, and inclusion. When people from the administration talk about it, they have a tone and attitude that make it seem like those three words are profane, vulgar, and everything about them should be eradicated. They make it sound like DEI is an obnoxious, despicable enemy threatening the lifeblood of the country.
Trump has made it a major goal to eliminate DEI across all federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been widely quoted as saying that DEI is dead at the Department of Defense. Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot said in a statement, “Discriminatory Equity Ideology is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that has no place in our military.” Other governmental agencies are following this pattern.
The enormous power of the government has been organized against DEI initiatives. There is a full-scale governmental assault on corporations, universities, museums, cultural institutions and other organizations coercing them to abandon all DEI initiatives. In New Hampshire, our state government has jumped on this anti-DEI bandwagon.
So, what do these initials that the Trump administration is attempting to squash stand for? Diversity embodies the value of embracing the differences that everyone brings to the table, whether those are based on race, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability or other aspects of social identity.
Equity is a synonym for justice. Equity represents the value of treating everyone fairly and providing equal opportunities. Part of what the writers of the U.S. Constitution did was establish justice as a core value in the new country they were forming. Equity dismantles power structures that privilege certain groups and exclude others. The goal is for everyone to have the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background or circumstances.
Inclusion is about respecting everyone’s voice and creating a culture where people from all backgrounds are invited, included and encouraged to express their ideas and perspectives. Inclusion strives to make all people feel valued and respected.
DEI was created to be a policy that encouraged equal treatment for all, regardless of whether they were people of color, women, LGBTQ+, differently abled or of a certain religious affiliation. It was initiated because, throughout our country’s history, we haven’t had diversity, equity and inclusion for all people.
For the moment, let’s set aside examining how DEI applies to all categories of people being targeted and focus specifically on just race. The Civil War was fought because the country didn’t have diversity, equity and inclusion. Of course, at that time, people weren’t using these specific words, but the values represented by these words were at the core of the reason for the war. If diversity, equity and inclusion had been part of our national character, there would never have been a Civil War. There wouldn’t have been a need for it.
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War abolished slavery, but didn’t bring about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Thankfully, the civil rights movement moved the country forward toward incorporating these values into the fabric of our lives together. There have been comparable movements to expand DEI values for age, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation and physical ability.
Some of the best aspects of our country’s history have been its efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Many of us have experienced the movement toward DEI as progress. We have seen it as a movement toward the country’s true values.
Consider the opposite of DEI. The opposite of diversity is segregation, racism, separation and white supremacy. The opposite of equity is injustice, unfairness and discrimination. The opposite of inclusion is to be left out, not included, pushed out to the extremities of society and rejected. When MAGA and our state government attempt to erase DEI, these are the values they are embracing. The assault on DEI elevates the worst of our history. It doesn’t make America great. It drags us back into the crimes of our past.
Given the enormous power of national and state governments, I don’t know how institutions can and should navigate against that power. However, we can remind ourselves that the values of diversity, equity and inclusion are essential and are at the core of the best of our country. We can commit to not letting the present administration erase them. Instead of being erased, we embrace these values and hold to the vision of them being incorporated in our life together even more strongly. When we do that, or when we witness others doing it, we celebrate and recommit.
Gray Fitzgerald lives in Concord and is the author of the soon-to-be-published book, “Capitalism Converts Christianity.”