If one does a quick search as to the many “diversified” majors offered at the university and college level in America, social engineering is rarely, if ever, among them.
Still, America and those that follow her lead, continue trying to engineer “The Great Society” that President Lyndon Baines Johnson failed at so miserably. People tend to be who they are no matter how hard we try to make them into someone, or something, they’re not. That is just the nature of society.
Diversity exists whether one constructs it or not. Inclusivity depends on what one hopes to be included. Are members of the Bloods and the Crips interchangeable? It would not be wise to try and push Inclusivity where they’re concerned.
Equity is perhaps the toughest one because it gets confused with “equal.” Equity is defined as being “fair and impartial.” Equal means “the same as” when making a comparison.
Let’s take Patrick Mahomes for instance, the quarterback for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. He would be equal in that he is both black and white (African-American father, Caucasian mother). But is he equitable when he steps onto the football field?
Opposing teams would say his talents make playing against him almost unfair, and he is quite partial to the Chiefs. However, he plays fair and shakes the hand of the opposing quarterback when the Chiefs lose.
There is nothing wrong with diversity. When it comes to excellence, it comes in all colors, shapes, and sizes. When considering inclusive, ask any Chiefs player, white, black, or otherwise, if they would prefer that Mahomes wasn’t on their team.
As for equity, Mahomes comes in a lovely shade of brown. When one thinks about it, is there a human being on the planet that does not fit that description?
It would be wonderful if racism did not exist, but it does. It makes little difference what color one is, there will always be someone out there who does not like certain skin colors. And racism exists for other reasons as well. What color is a Jew?
One can find many articles praising industries for adopting DEI policies in their hiring practices. These articles often go overboard citing a company’s increased success because of it. Sorry, that doesn’t hold water. Does anyone think Mahomes was drafted for any reason other than his talent?
The author apologizes for using sports analogies, and more specifically Patrick Mahomes, as examples but they work so well. There was a time when blacks could not play on white teams, but that bias now languishes in the dustbin of history.
So, can schools speed things up by teaching DEI? For those students who also participate in a sport or extracurricular activity, they’re already ahead of the DEI curve. But what about those students who do not participate in activities outside the classroom?
Train those students to study, get good grades, and think for themselves. Do that and the pros and cons of DEI will automatically fall into place.