Gov. Patrick Morrisey last month issued an executive order terminating DEI initiatives in state government and entities receiving state funding. (Getty Images)
It’s relatively easy for me to write about the subjects I usually cover in my commentaries, which tend to relate to the environment and climate. It’s harder for me to write about race, despite being a person of color who has experienced racism more than I’d like in this state. But I’ve been thinking about race a lot since Gov. Patrick Morrisey took office last month.
“Yesterday, you heard in our inaugural speech, we had a number of big ideas planned. Today begins the process of effectuating those goals,” Morrisey said in his first press conference on his second day in office.
It turns out one of those goals is the “cessation of DEI.”
DEI — an acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion — has become the latest boogeyman among conservatives, creating an issue out of thin air. DEI was not a frequent talking point during the gubernatorial campaign in West Virginia. Yet at a press conference soon after his victory in November, then Governor-elect Morrisey said the words “DEI” and “woke” are not West Virginia values. Last month, Morrisey issued an executive order terminating DEI initiatives in state government and entities that receive state funding.
Few people trying to eradicate DEI have convincingly articulated what it really means. We should encourage them to break out the acronym and say the words. Are they against diversity? Are they against equity? Or equality? Are they against inclusion?
It’s painful to see your state and federal elected officials railing against things that are meaningful to you. Or things that are, you. When my governor decides to take the time to record a video celebrating my alma mater eliminating its DEI office, it hurts and confuses me.
I participated in some of the programming put on by West Virginia University’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion when I was a student. Most of it was as benign as multicultural movie screenings or food samples. I did spend one semester as a peer mentor in a program designed to support at-risk students of color, with the goal of making them feel more comfortable at the university and reducing their chances of dropping out.
The graduation rate for Black and Hispanic students at WVU is lower than the whole school average. I wasn’t privy to the methodology as to how the students were chosen, but I suspect the office used a variety of indicators to identify the students most at-risk of dropping out. To me, having an inclusion or equity oriented mindset means understanding disparities and the factors that contribute, and taking steps to mitigate that. Colleges have a vested interest in students graduating. Why shouldn’t they create programs dedicated to helping people from falling behind?
This equity mindset isn’t limited to race, which I’ve come to learn recently is the first thing that comes to mind when talking with supposed anti-DEI individuals. Recently, a conservative friend expressed genuine shock when I told him a program I was a part of, and later mentored, tried to improve STEM outcomes for people of color, rural, low-income, or first-in-family students. When I told the friend the program wasn’t just limited to race, and that, in fact, it tried to solve several socioeconomic disparities in the state, I could see in real time his “a-ha” moment and his acceptance that helping vulnerable groups is a good idea.
That’s inclusion. It’s a targeted effort to provide resources to help people who need it. Some DEI opponents want West Virginians to think that there are quotas keeping deserving people out of jobs across the state, but I haven’t seen evidence of that. Where is there DEI in state government? It’s business as usual in the state cabinet positions, with the majority being white men. There is a Black female leader in the Office of Minority Affairs, but I can’t help but wonder what the point of that department is in this new administration.
It’s not like racism doesn’t exist in this country, or even this state. Need I remind the governor that white supremacists marched in Charleston less than a year ago?
The attacks on diversity and inclusion, and blaming it for tragedies like the recent plane crash in Washington D.C., serve as a distraction from more systemic issues, like wealth inequality and climate change. Whatever they want you to think DEI is, it isn’t the root of our problems today.