Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Most people on the left love the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion.  For the purpose of this article, I have chosen to rearrange these words to create the word DIE because, in my opinion, these once positive words have been manipulated and has led to the death of common sense in America. Wokeness embraces DEI, and this is demonstrated in many aspects of American life.  One area where this ideology has dominated is American education, and the woeful results of student progress is proof that noble words can be manipulated to lead to the demise of it touches.

2018 data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that the U.S. ranked 11^th out of 79 countries in science and 30^th in math.  The U.S. ranked 478 in math, which is 11 points below the OECD average.  Macao, Estonia, Singapore and Finland all scored significantly higher than U.S. students in science. Despite these abysmal numbers school systems throughout the country are dominated by liberal school boards and liberal educators who overlook deficiencies in the product they are promoting and, instead, focus on unproven, biased and fallacy based things like critical race theory, the 1619 Project and gender ideology.  They do this under the umbrella of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Let’s take a look at each of these woke buzz words means and how they have been manipulated to mean the antithesis of their long term meanings.  The primary definition of “diversity” according to Webster’s dictionary is the condition of having or being composed of differing elements : VARIETYespecially : the inclusion of people of different races (see RACE entry 1 sense 1a), cultures, etc. in a group or organization.  In principle, this is reasonable because it allows for everyone to have a chance to participate in society.  However, when “diversity” means that we overlook accomplishments and merit because it’s more important to have a diverse-looking group than a qualified group, therein lies the problem.  Perhaps this explains the fact that according to ThinkImpact the college dropout rate is 40% for undergraduates, and only 41% actually graduate in 4 years or less.

Lawsuits have made their way to the Supreme Court and are challenging obvious discriminatory practices at some of the nation’s highest ranked universities including Harvard, University of North Carolina, Stanford and others whose commitment to diversity discriminates against hard working and deserving students.  According to a statement issued by the Asian-American Coalition for Education, “At UNC, an in-state male Asian American candidate whose statistical chances of admission are 25% based on grades and other metrics would have a 63% chance of admission if treated as Hispanic and an 88% chance of admission if treated as black. Harvard maintains its racial balances by taking the discrimination an insulting step further, using the highly subjective “Personal” rating—an important component of an applicant’s overall admissions score—to establish a hierarchy of races, with blacks at the top, followed by Hispanics, followed by whites, and with Asian Americans at the very bottom.”  How could anyone view this as fair or reasonable?

The Webster’s primary definition of inclusion is that it is the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure, and it also includes an updated version of inclusion:  “the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or intellectual disabilities and members of other minority groups: “we value and promote diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our business.”

Inclusion has always been the opposite of exclusion, which is to not allow people to join a group.  However, notice how Webster’s new definition refers to “marginalized groups.”  The left has no problem with inclusion, as long as it isn’t a group they would define as privileged or dominant.  Their logic is that it’s ok to exclude them.  They even invented a new woke term to justify exclusion: “neo-segregation.”  For decades segregation was seen as a negative result of the Jim Crow era, but now it’s considered proactive in another rationalization created by those on the left to cry “inclusion” when it suits their agendas, but to exclude those they don’t want to include.  A study conducted by the National Association of Scholars (NAS) examined racial segregation at institutions such as Columbia University, Yale University, MIT, etc. After surveying 173 schools, results revealed that 42% offer segregated residences, 46% offer segregated orientation programs, and 72% host segregated graduation ceremonies.

Finally, Webster’s defines equity as the quality of being fair and impartial.  What could possibly be wrong with that?  However, the re-defining of equity isn’t about fairness or impartiality, it’s about “equality of outcomes,” which is basically the idea that each individual should be equal in terms of their material wealth or, more generally, in which the general economic conditions of their lives are similar.  In other words, it is a Marxist paradise.  The notion of equity for those on the left involves a complete redistribution of wealth or other resources because, according to them, any disproportionate issuance of resources is evidence of racism, sexism, or any other “ism” that they can create to extend victim status.  There has never been a society where every person had exactly the same resources, despite what liberal college professors tell their students.  Equality and equity are concepts that are not to be taken literally; one would only need to look around a room and see that we are not quantitatively equal in terms of our physical characteristics, so I guess Mother (Birthing Person) Nature should be canceled for being an oppressor.

School systems around the nation have diversity, equity and inclusion workshops to espouse and train teachers to embrace the new, liberal and woke notions of diversity, equity and inclusion.  Yet, none of these workshops address the declining test scores, dropout rates, illiteracy or the fact that U.S. students are scoring far lower than students in other, much smaller, nations.

The never-ending semantic games played by woke individuals to justify untenable, illogical positions and to take positive words and manipulate their meanings is a desperate tactic that most reasonable Americans will not support.  The evils of “separate but equal” doesn’t apply because college presidents who support neo-segregation defend it by stating that “events are segregated in the traditional sense.”  I guess these administrators never read Abraham Lincoln’s quote, which perfectly refutes all woke ideology: Lincoln asked the question, “If you call a dog’s tail a leg, how many legs does it have?”  When most people answered, “five,” Lincoln said, “Four.  Calling a tail a leg, doesn’t make it a leg.”

Diversity is a good thing, except when it masques prejudice.  Inclusion is wonderful when it includes everyone, and is not used as a tool to deny those who want to be included, their right to be included.  Equity and equality are American values, except when it involves the absurd misnomer that it must be taken to an extreme and anyone with more, must give their excess up to make sure that everyone is completely equal. It’s time to stop rationalizing and fix American education.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.