Virtually every university, government agency and major corporation has embraced some type of diversity, equity and inclusion policies — widely known as DEI — to ostensibly promote a more open, equitable and, well, inclusive workplace.
The concept sounds fine. Who doesn’t value diversity? But in practice these policies breed division because they approach race and gender issues through a race-based and ideological lens.
The matter is now finally getting a hearing in the federal courts.
A former professor at Penn State University filed a lawsuit against the university, arguing he was forced to quit because its DEI policies created a hostile work environment, the Washington Examiner reported. It noted that Judge Wendy Beetlestone, an Obama appointee, recently ruled that the suit can move forward because the professor “plausibly alleged that he was subjected to a race-based hostile work environment.”
This is good news for actual diversity, as it offers some chance to put the brakes on the distorted DEI variety. Penn State’s Office of Educational Equity explains that, in “assertively” incorporating these values into every aspect of university life, it creates a sense of belonging and “a more inclusive and diverse community — one that is free of discrimination, one that embraces differences, and one that respects all individuals.”
Yet the lawsuit, by Zack De Piero, exposes DEI’s ugly underbelly. He alleges bizarre training sessions that included a video called “White Teachers are a Problem” and an exercise that required non-Black teachers to hold their breath longer than Black teachers to “feel the pain.” He alleges (per the ruling) that one session attacked “race neutrality, equal opportunity, objectivity, colorblindness and merit.” Those happen to be the foundations of our free and open society.
These examples jibe with DEI training approaches virtually everywhere. Instead of promoting belonging, they anger and divide employees. It’s Orwellian that policies to assure an inclusive environment end up singling out people based on their race.
It’s even worse when it’s used to undermine the idea that people should be judged on their individual merits. It’s about time the courts take a look.
