With Kamala Harris now topping the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket, some of her supporters are creating a quandary when it comes to using the term “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI). These supporters criticize those among her detractors as racist for claiming the vice president is a product of DEI.
In a CNN interview, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., described Harris as a “one hundred percent DEI hire” as President Joe Biden had committed to selecting “a black female for vice president” during his 2020 campaign. The next day, during a CNN segment hosted by Brianna Keilar, she accused Burchett of making a “veiled slur” against Harris by suggesting her selection was based on DEI.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., went further in his attack on Burchett. Perhaps as a black member of Congress, Frost felt comfortable making the outrageous claim that simply labeling Harris as a “DEI hire” was a reference to “the N-word.”
Clearly, by their comments above, both Keilar and Frost are suggesting merit – not race or gender – was the reason for Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate in 2020. Accordingly, since, by definition, DEI obliviates any merit consideration, Harris supporters feel referring to her as a DEI hire – which favors race over merit – is a racial slap across the face to their candidate.
The DEI approach is one favored by Biden’s current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Gen. Charles Q. Brown. His prior position was chief of staff of the Air Force, and as that service’s first black leader, he committed to diversifying a majority white pilot corps (86%) into a minority (43%) by the year 2030. Thus, Brown, who was selected to be Biden’s JCS chairman due to embracing DEI, recognizes – as Keilar and Frost lament above – that the policy is racially oriented as that is the only way he could reduce the percentage of white pilots. Therefore, the bottom line is anyone given priority under DEI has received a benefit based on race.
Now consider Biden’s declaration about his list of potential vice president candidates made months before the 2020 presidential election. He made it a point to announce his list included four black women. The fact he would specify race in sharing this information during an interview suggests Biden was implementing his DEI policy even before the presidential election. And this would not only be for selecting his vice president but later for numerous staff positions as well. If merit was the requirement for all to make Biden’s vice presidential candidate list, why even mention race unless it was critical to his selection?
Any doubters of this logic need to listen to Biden’s statement that his commitment to the DEI policy “starts at the top with the vice president.” Biden went on to create the most diverse Cabinet in history as 55% of it is nonwhite and 45% female.
It is as if Biden designed his Cabinet along the lines of the 18th century nursery rhyme “Rub-a-dub-dub.” Just like the lyrics tell of three men of diverse professions in a tub, Biden went to his DEI list to select the first openly gay secretary, the first woman to head the Treasury Department and the first Native American to serve in a president’s Cabinet.
As much as Harris supporters might wish to cry racism for critics simply describing her as a DEI product, it is a fact that cannot be denied by Biden’s own words and actions in selecting her. And since DEI, by definition, ignores merit, it automatically excludes others well-qualified for being unable to check the appropriate racial box. This issue has recently cropped up as well concerning Biden’s decision – made at wife Jill’s urging – to select a DEI candidate as head of the Secret Service in view of the tragic assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13.
A government sanctioning DEI is racist – not those choosing to point it out.
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