diversity – Lisa Shaffer Words

February 3 2025

Who’s Afraid of DEI?

lisashaffer Blog dei, diversity, equity, inclusion, MAGA, Republicans, Trump

Why does diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) scare Republicans?

February is Black History Month. It’s sad, but true, that although Black history is American history, it has not been taught at all adequately. As a result, in order to tell our complicated national story, we need to bring special attention to the role of Black Americans. Eliminating the idea of a special Black History month does not erase the unpleasant racist aspects of our history, nor the many contributions of Black leaders.

By the same token, taking away references to LGBTQ+ people and immigrants will not make them disappear. So why is the Administration so focused on eliminating DEI programs and punishing those who participate in them?

Are members of the current administration afraid they can’t compete? Do they think they need to exclude certain groups so the MAGA team will look better? Do they understand that among the MAGA ranks are people who come from immigrant parents, women, and people whose skin is a darker shade than the president? Ironically, this Administration includes people from across DEI spectrum: white men, white women, and people of color, and they all seem to be incompetent and unqualified.

There is no evidence that DEI policies are harming our country. In fact, diversity makes us more resilient and stronger as a nation. Diversity supports the growth of our economy, which, by the way, is not a pie with limited resources. Bringing qualified, competent people who have previously been disadvantaged brings fresh ideas, more energy, and makes the pie bigger for everyone. Organizations benefit from diverse teams, from considering a variety of perspectives, from reflecting the actual diversity of our society. Because, in many cases, non-mainstream groups and individuals have had to work harder and are stronger and better prepared, when given the chance, they may outshine their competition. Might that be the reason white MAGA folks are afraid?

One of our founding principles is that all men are created equal. Historically, this principle has not been implemented equitably. White male landowners were the first people to have power in our new republic. Over time, rights were extended to women and to formerly enslaved people. To compensate for decades of discrimination, when opportunities for education, housing, financial credit, and employment were closed to non-white and non-male citizens, programs have been developed to help everyone get to a relatively equivalent starting point. The idea is inclusion – letting everyone have a chance. Allowing previously excluded groups into mainstream society doesn’t take away from those who already have a seat at the table. DEI programs don’t guarantee that anyone will succeed. Success depends on an individual’s capabilities, ambition, and performance. But they have to get to the starting line in order to compete.

There is so much that is unacceptable about what is happening in the name of our citizens. We need to pay attention. Call out injustice. Find ways to support those who are now suffering, afraid, and vulnerable to barbaric and incompetent policies. Resist unlawful orders, and organize for the 2026 election. We need a Congress that understands its job is to serve the people, to protect and defend the Constitution, and to work for the common good. Especially if you have Republican representatives, make your voice heard, loud, and often. We owe every American the opportunity to pursue an education, a career, and a family no matter who they are, what they look like, or who they love.

July 1 2023

What Really Matters

lisashaffer Blog affirmative action, book ban, civic engagement, diversity, government, politics, supreme court, voting

If it wasn’t clear before last week, it should be glaringly obvious now that voting matters. Voting determines who makes decisions, including decisions about who sits on the Supreme Court. And who sits on the Supreme Court matters enormously!

Regarding affirmative action in higher education, the court’s majority seem to believe that there is no longer racial discrimination, and that the impacts of historic race-based restrictions don’t need to be examined. it seems only fair that if race cannot explicitly be considered, then legacy considerations should be disallowed as well. Legacy means that you get preference if others in your family attended that school before you. I was glad to hear in an interview with the president of my alma mater, the University of Michigan, that UofM does not give preference for legacy applicants. Given historical racial discrimination, legacy preference has the effect of perpetuating inequality and discrimination. Obviously no Black applicants had great grandfathers who attended Harvard and passed along their alumni status.

Another recent ruling held that a wedding website designer could refuse to accept a client planning a same-sex wedding on the basis that if conflicts with the website designer’s religious beliefs. Talk about slippery slopes – if my religion teaches that God intended everyone to be right-handed, and anyone who is left-handed has been tainted by the Devil, could I refuse to hire or serve anyone who was left-handed? Or deny medical care to left-handed people if I was a doctor?

In fact, if this website designer specialized in messaging that reflected her conservative evangelical “Christian” views, she would be an unlikely choice for a same-sex couple seeking a wedding website. And in fact, the case was basically made up. The plaintiff had not started her website business nor turned down any same-sex clients. Nobody was trying to force her to offer messages she disagreed with. All she would have been required to do, before this ruling, was to offer whatever business she was in to anyone who chose to hire her. So if she only offered websites strewn with messages about love between a man and a woman, and only had designs that showed heterosexual couples, no existing law would have required her to change her artistic offerings. Clearly the Supreme Court majority was just looking for an excuse to undo existing precedent about nondiscrimination in public accommodations. So sad, so unnecessary.

I am glad to see challenges to abortion restrictions based on Jewish teachings, and I was amused when parents in Utah objected to the Bible being in school libraries because it contained lewd and violent content that violated restrictions intended to ban books with more progressive content. [That decision was quickly reversed after parent protests … hypocrisy is alive and thriving …]

But all of this is a huge waste of time and money, to say nothing of the suffering of people who just want to live their lives, get an education, plan a wedding, and read books of their choice. We don’t live in a zero-sum game, despite many folks acting like we do. Helping those in need does not diminish the rest of us – it makes all of us better. Making books available that represent the diversity of our society helps everyone feel seen and respected. Parents still get to choose what books their young children check out, and they can choose whether or not to bring their children to a drag show.

There is much evidence that a diverse workplace, a diverse classroom, a diverse community is more resilient, more creative, and more productive than a homogenous group. What are we afraid of?

So I return to my main message, my perpetual message: we get the kind of government and the kind of society that we choose, either by our action or our inaction. If you think these issues are important, please get involved. Find out who’s on your local school board and work to elect those who support your values. Get involved in local, state, and national campaigns. Contact current elected officials, and work to get good people into office. We can change course. We can make reforms to the Supreme Court like term limits, and we can do better if we work together.