The concept of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) was thrust last week front and center into the mainstream media’s news cycle by none other than President Donald Trump.
Less than 24 hours after the tragic midair collision between a Blackhawk helicopter and American airline flight 5432 approaching Reagan National Airport, Trump brought up DEI in a White House briefing as a potential cause of the crash.
According to an AP reporter, Trump’s briefing quickly shifted from a moment of silence and prayer for the victims into “a diatribe against diversity hiring and his allegation that lowered standards were to blame for the crash.” Although Trump was asked repeatedly by reporters for evidence that the DEI initiatives of the previous administration contributed to the deadly crash, he could not offer any yet refused to back down from this ludicrous assertion.
DEI is an umbrella term that refers to various beliefs about the imperfect operation of our democratic society as well as a set of practices designed to improve access in such areas as jobs, housing, health care and education. Such practices are aimed at combating discrimination and addressing pay inequity along gender or racial lines, while also seeking to broaden recruitment and access for underrepresented ethnic groups.
In education, DEI signifies a commitment to removing systemic barriers for groups affected by a legacy of racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of prejudice. For workers in many sectors of the labor market, DEI represents the efforts to “ensure that all employees regardless of background, receive the same employment benefits and opportunities.”
Although DEI initiatives are generally based on democratic principles such as equality and justice, the term has become a euphemism for Republican politicians and conservative media personnel and business leaders. For them, DEI does not stand for the efforts to make the United States more diverse or egalitarian, but rather a desire to lower the standards and ensure that historically marginalized populations gain access to positions of power whether they are qualified or not.
Notice that the concern for lowering the standards has been raised only with respect to minorities while ignoring their white counterparts like Pete Hegseth who lacked the relevant experience and judgment to lead the Defense Department. Even more troubling is the fact that the Republican contempt for DEI and the distorted view of diversity, equity, and inclusion on which it is based, is not applied equally to all people of color who have been promoted or selected to serve in high positions. As such, it is worth taking a moment to use it to evaluate the candidacy of Kash Patel, the man that Trump has nominated to be the next director of the FBI.
Patel’s parents hail from East Africa though he and his seven siblings were born on Long Island, New York. According to an investigative report about him in the Atlantic Magazine, Patel attended Garden City High School where “he was one of only a handful of people of color in his class.” After graduating from law school, Patel began his professional career as a public defender in Miami-Dade County.
Later, in 2014, Patel moved to Washington D.C. and became a federal prosecutor in the Justice Department’s counterterrorism section. Based on numerous interviews with lawyers that worked with Patel, Elaina Calabro’s report concluded that during his time in the Justice Department, Patel harbored many grievances with the judicial system and a growing chip on his shoulder. Indeed, his stint in the Justice Department was rather fleeting and in 2017 he took a job working for the House Permanent Select on Investigations under Devin Nunes.
Patel’s lack of qualifications to serve as the next director of the FBI are too numerous to recount here in full. Still, we should be concerned by the fact that in 2023 he published a book entitled Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. That book includes an appendix with an “enemies list” of more than 50 individuals that could face retribution from the new Trump administration. Patel’s list includes many Republicans leaders like Bill Barr and Gina Haspel and at least two current FBI employees.
Patel is credited with producing one song: “Justice for All,” a version of the national anthem sung by jailed January 6th defendants and played during Trump’s first 2024 campaign rally. He has floated the idea of “shutting down the FBI Hoover Building on Day 1 and reopening it the next day as a museum of the deep state” while also suggesting that he will target journalists and media professionals who challenge Trump’s agenda. And according to former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s memoir, Patel’s reckless actions in October 2020 almost jeopardized a Seal Team 6’s rescue mission in West Africa.
For all these reasons, if Kash Patel gets confirmed as the next FBI director, one could employ the Republican logic to assert that he was a “DEI” appointment, a minority candidate that lacked even the basic qualifications to fulfill the position for which he was appointed.
Yet as much as this twisted argument might be appealing, we should not overlook the real reason that Patel was selected —his loyalty and willingness to follow Trump’s orders no matter how crazy or dangerous they are.
Mordechai Gordon is a Professor of Education School of Education at Quinnipiac University.