Adversity, Perversity, and Diversity

 

“This unilateral action potentially eliminates vital educational

content from our state courts’ judicial education curriculum

and does so in a manner inconsistent with this court’s yearslong

commitment to fairness-and-diversity education… Moreover, it paves

the way for a complete dismantling of all fairness-and-diversity

initiatives in the state courts system.”

Dissenting Florida State Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga, as the majority rules that

Florida judges can no long take the existing set of “fairness and diversity”

courses to satisfy their continuing judicial education requirements.

If you listened to newly elected Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ official Republican rebuttal to the President’s February 7th State of the Union Speech, her focus was on fighting a “culture war” purportedly started by Democrats. She repeatedly used the word “freedom” as equated to rightwing evangelical orthodoxy. Sanders’ speech included attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, the “woke mob” and other rightwing buzzwords, like railing against “critical race theory,” a concept that has never really been clearly defined. “The choice is no longer between right or left,” declared Sanders, former press secretary to Donald Trump. “The choice is between normal and crazy.” Normal to whom? And which side is crazy? Is striving for equality – the wokest effort of them all – that repugnant to the GOP? What exactly is “freedom from indoctrination”?

Indeed, in her first days in office, Sanders issued a spate of executive orders, including one in which she labeled critical race theory an indoctrination that is “antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness.” The same deeply anti-abortion candidate who campaigned that that she would “make sure” that a “kid” in the womb would be as safe as those in a classroom. Given our guns laws and recent shootings, that may not have been much of a pledge.

The essence of anti-CRT advocates is that racial, religious and ethnic discrimination occurred in the past, our civil rights laws of the 1960s have indeed “eliminated” that bias from our nation, and that White children should not feel any responsibility or guilt for that past. For those who have missed the litany of voting restrictions and gerrymandering focused to keep minority voters from having a political voice or the bodycam/CCTV/smartphone footage of blue-on-Black and Brown assaults and killings, the further impoverishment of the entire bottom segment of our economy, of all races and ethnicities, or the strident marches of well-armed White rightwing extremists, some bearing torches, repeating the mantra that “they shall not replace us,” such discrimination remains rampant in our country. “They,” as used above, being those racial, ethnic and religious minorities. For evangelicals, gender bias is simply a fulfillment of their interpretation of the Bible… LGBTQ+ represents unholy perversity to them.

But the wave of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from conservative leaders in the U.S. is rampant and accelerating in red states as well as in smaller rightwing municipalities even in blue states. How can seeking equality be divisive… but it is? If you are a current GOP supporter, you are against DEI. A Dem, the opposite. Why?

The legacy of the past continues to haunt us. Restrictions that are no longer legal often still define contemporary life. Legacy restrictive racial covenants and redlining, sometimes de facto continuing into the present (as noted in a $30 million bank settlement reached between the SEC and a CNB subsidiary), have long since set “them” vs “us” racially coherent neighborhoods. Laws may change, but people generally don’t immediately move. Most often, feeling threatened, they even stay where they are safe and what they can afford.

Black and Brown students are those most impacted by inferior inner city schools and remain underrepresented in colleges and universities, even as the Supreme Court considers eliminating affirmative action. The civil rights laws of the 1960s also have been defanged and reduced by a Supreme Court appointed by rightwing GOP presidents.

As reported by Chanelle Chandler in the February 8th Yahoo!News: “Amid the polarizing effects of the conversation around DEI and its evolution, experts say the purpose of these initiatives and programs has been lost in politics and rhetoric. They explained to Yahoo News that DEI was not meant to be divisive, but was intended to level the playing field in an increasingly diverse but systematically fractured society — and they argue that it would be a mistake to eradicate such initiatives…

“‘Equity is those practices, policies and programs to ensure that people are treated fair and have an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of who they are,’ Rick Wade, senior vice president for strategic alliances and outreach at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told Yahoo News. ‘That's really important. You can't separate where we are with regards to diversity and equity without understanding the full context: that there have been some individuals in our society who have not necessarily been treated equitably.’…

“In late January, [anti-DEI leader and Florida Governor Ron] DeSantis — a possible 2024 presidential contender who has a history of challenging educational institutes and who recently banned the College Board’s Advanced Placement high school course in African American studies in Florida — announced a proposal to eliminate what he called ‘ideological conformity.’

“His plan targets DEI programs in Florida’s higher education system. DeSantis blamed the initiatives for draining resources and driving costs up. Under his proposal, there would be mandated courses in Western civilization and the protections of tenure would be limited… The governor’s office, in a press release, called out DEI programs for being discriminatory and vowed to push back against ‘the tactics of liberal elites who suppress free thought in the name of identity politics and indoctrination.’ He also voted to ban universities from funding the programs, even if the money isn’t coming from the state.

“‘That’s not what we believe is appropriate for the state of Florida,’ DeSantis said on Jan. 31 during an appearance at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, one of Florida’s publicly funded state and community colleges.” Equality really has never been in the building to be able to leave it.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I wonder when “patriotism” will return to the fundamental Constitutional value that all men (people) are created equal.