By Nicarlyle Hanchard / The Jambar
Ohio Senate Bill 1, House Bill 698, the repealing of Affirmative Action — when will it end? Better yet, this is said to be “enforcement,” but to what end? Seemingly at our beloved Youngstown State University, we can no longer “BEE anything,” but my issue is bigger than what we have or do not have happening on campus.
I know, you there, the one reading this wondering when, if ever, will diversity, equity and inclusion discussions subside. Unfortunately for all of us, if the elected representatives continue to raise a red flag or a hazard sign at the mention of DEI, and with DEI becoming a derogatory phrase in public discourse, news media personnel will comment on the issue.
Now, you lovely people, why is it that DEI can be blamed for perpetuating inequality, but the inequality it was initially introduced to combat is never brought up? ¿Por que? Si tu préfères, je peux dire, “pourquoi?”
Forgive me if I am being willfully obtuse when I say this, but I cannot hate an initiative that was created to afford systemically disadvantaged groups a chance to better themselves. I’ll concede and say maybe along the way some people and institutions may have forgotten the purpose of DEI.
Unfortunate, but I do not believe the discrepancies outweigh the achievements. That is not to say a specific group was favored under DEI — it was a broad and all-encompassing legislation. There are programs and initiatives that still exist which were once under the umbrella of DEI.
Do not be mistaken, I am happy they still exist and those groups are being served, but what about those programs that required the DEI umbrella to exist? You may say, “Well, they should not exist then,” but what if all they needed was a home or a foundation from which to start, but it got yanked from under them?
That aside for a moment, since all this brouhaha about DEI started, I have wondered why some people are so against it, and wondered then, why they were confused about others being in support of DEI.
To the former, I have concluded that continued DEI legislations and initiatives highlight the fact that we live in an unequal society. Before I continue, please understand that ignoring said fact causes more problems than if we are to acknowledge it — you have to name the ailment to prescribe the appropriate medicine.
So, it is the discomfort that comes with acknowledging society’s inequality that causes DEI opponents to be in fight mode, because that goes against their beliefs and claims of society being solely meritocratic.
I would also like to say that when DEI was legislated, there were people from select groups who were to benefit from the program who believed it was not efficient in completing the tasks it set — they thought companies only had it as a clause, but did not actually practice it.
So, we have the beautiful coin that is DEI. On one side, opponents say it furthered division in society and elevated unqualified individuals, while supporters for DEI believe it fell short in some regard, but made enough waves for positive change to come in the future. Though two truths can coexist, will we actually take the time to work through the discomfort of that existence?