What the MAGA DEI slur gets wrong

We cannot achieve equality without equity

I came across this little gem in my Substack notes, and I could only shake my head.

Click above to read or engage in the exchange.

I have encountered many well-meaning folks who espouse the same type of view. I am sure they feel their perspective is well-thought-out and reasoned, but yeah—it ain’t.

It almost always seems to go a wee bit like:

“I am all for equality and whatnot, but do we have to be so brazen in our attempt to achieve it?”

This isa lot like saying, “I am all for people getting access to medical care, but do we have to talk about the lack of it for everyone?”

How do you combat a social ill if you dare not speak its name?

First things first…

We need EQUITY to achieve EQUALITY

This was among the comments I made to Chris above:

No, I don’t want “equality,” I want “equity” as a means to achieve balance. Equality assumes everyone needs the same things for the same reasons.

Equity as a goal recognizes that not everyone needs the same things to achieve the same results. For instance, a tall person can reach over a fence to pick an apple from a tree.

A shorter person may not be able to reach the apple. So someone would need to give the shorter person a ladder to reach an apple. That allows them to achieve equality.

You are blind and foolish if you do not recognize the fact that equality, as The Republicans equate it, is foolish and non-achievable and seeks to leave disadvantaged groups behind.

We all need equal access to opportunity, but many of us need different tools to get there.

Besides, as one commenter pointed out, Biden never said Kamala was a DEI hire or even mentioned her race as a consideration for picking her.

However, he did mention that he wanted to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court to diversify it. Even with this declaration, what Biden did in his appointment of Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court is also not an example of DEI.

DEI is a hiring practice utilized by corporations that recognize a lack of different perspectives in their specific workplace and seek to remedy that situation. While Biden technically did that with Justice Jackson, he was also seeking to balance the court, which had historically been a White, good ole boys' club for centuries.

It's sad that the very same people screaming about fairness in hiring practices do not recognize the unfairness of only placing White men in high-profile positions because, in their minds, White males always win by merit alone.

Yuk, yuk, yuk, pull the other leg, why doncha!

In any case, once they see the DEI slur isn’t gonna wash, they will reach into their infinite bag of tricks to see what sticks. So far, they’ve got nothing but racist and sexist attacks and the fact Kamala Harris supposedly wants to *put on glasses, read notes* get rid of plastic straws.

*Swiftly takes off glasses in disgust*

I can’t even, ya’ll.