DEI vs. Homogenous, Corrupt Prejudice

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Last Updated on: 7th February 2025, 01:16 am

There is huge backlash to DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) that is now having its day in the sun. Hate for DEI is a big part of the MAGA movement, and it is now being smashed to pieces by Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Wall Streeters are happy, corporate boards and CEOs who don’t understand it or don’t like it are happy … for now. Many people without a background in social sciences may think it’s common sense and a good thing to wipe out DEI initiatives.

Something that is not understood by many is just how much systemic, historical prejudice still influences Americans across the country. It was 160 years ago that slavery became illegal (December 6, 1865). If you are 80 years old, it was just two of your lifetimes. If you are 40, it was just 40. In 1965, Black people got the right to vote in the United States. So, as you can see if you can do the math, it took 100 years from the end of slavery before Black people got the right to vote. If it took that long to go just that far, do you think there isn’t inherent quiet racism making decisions for people’s lives every day in the United States that disadvantage Black people?

In fact, the social sciences have uncovered all kinds of inherent racism in our society. Black people are given less opportunity even with the same qualifications, are paid less even with the same (or better) accomplishments, are routinely discounted and treated worse, and the list goes on and on. And that’s before getting to the matter of generation wealth. If your ancestors were slaves 160 years ago, they didn’t have any wealth to pass on. If your grandparents were heavily discriminated against and paid much less, they probably didn’t have much wealth to pass on.

Then there are other groups commonly paid less, passed up for good schools and good jobs, and even harmed and bullied by others. That includes women, Latin Americans, and … well, you know. We all know. White macho men are by default considered better in our society. And even if we do our best individually to not be prejudiced, we do not live in a utopia — prejudice abounds and it influences people’s lives every day.

So, to try to do something about that, DEI policies were put in place. DEI policies are not perfect. There is no perfect solution for prejudice. However, it’s an attempt to correct for common prejudices. Sometimes that leads to overcorrecting, sometimes it’s under-correcting (I’d argue that it’s much more commonly under-correcting). For some, any overcorrections mean DEI policies and programs are horrible and should be trashed. That’s Elon Musk’s and Donald Trump’s opinion and one of their priorities.

Of course, the flip side of diversity, equity, and inclusion is actually homogenous corruption and prejudice. Though, it’s much more popular to say you are against DEI than it is to be explicit about what you are for. Claiming that the absence of DEI would be a completely merit-based economy is missing the point, is missing the reality of our society. Axing DEI, more companies will select a white man over someone else because “it just feels right.”

Aside from just not being right in general this is not good for our country economically and it’s not good for companies ditching DEI. Research has consistently shown that companies with strong DEI programs perform better. Correlation is not causation, so conclusions can be limited, but this is also an obvious truth: if you limit your choices based on inherent prejudice, you’re much less likely to get the best candidate. If you allow widespread and homogenous corruption and prejudice — even quietly — you’re going to get worse results.