Trump and Musk show why “DEI” work is still needed

I’ve previously complained that an executive order from Donald Trump about DEI was nonsensical. Today I want to make a stronger statement: through their words and actions, Donald Trump and Elon Musk vividly demonstrate the continuing need for programs that support diversity, equity, and inclusion.

I’ve been reluctant to call Trump a racist. This is partly because I want to remain in dialogue with reluctant Trump supporters, and using the R word seems likely to end conversations and close minds. I also try to avoid such labels because it’s more precise and less inflammatory to critique a person’s specific choices. Still, when the choices fit a clear and persistent pattern, a label becomes well-earned. In Trump’s case, how else can one account for his opposition to immigrants of color fleeing humanitarian crises while embracing a fake humanitarian-crisis narrative (“white genocide”) to rationalize expedited admittance of white South Africans (Afrikaners)? Or his reference to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries”? Or his lies that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio eat neighbors’ beloved pets? Or the 50-plus years of evidence compiled by Wikipedia? I’m tired of trying to be diplomatic, especially when Trump himself routinely spouts dehumanizing insults. Trump is a racist. There, I said it.

Elon Musk is no better, as highlighted by (among many others) New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg:

Musk sometimes refers to people he holds in contempt as “NPCs,” videogame speak for characters who aren’t controlled by players and thus have no agency. More than just an insult, the term, I think, reveals something about his worldview. He either doesn’t view most other people as entirely real or doesn’t see the point of treating them as such. As he told Joe Rogan this year, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy,” referring to the emotion as a “bug” in our system.

In short, the world’s most powerful man (Trump) and the world’s richest man (Musk) have no desire to grant everyone equal opportunity according to merit. Instead they flaunt their biases. If people like these are determined to perpetuate discrimination, it’s up to the rest of us to fight discrimination as well as we can.

The term “DEI” covers many, many programs varying in philosophy and efficacy. It is always reasonable to ask whether a given program is achieving the intended goals via appropriate methods. Details aside, though, the fundamental claim of DEI defenders is that the playing field has been and continues to be tilted against certain individuals and groups, and that we as a society should make things fairer.

Anyone who wonders about the necessity of DEI programs need look no further than the world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest man, who, day by day and week by week, continue to upend every field that they can get their hands on.