America’s Future: Merit and Equality or Equity and Diversity?
– By Tom Garrison –
Unless you are living in a media desert, you have undoubtedly heard of “inclusion, diversity, and equity.” Who isn’t for diversity? Sounds good. Except that in reality, it is the Left/woke crowds’ newest attempt to divide the country, spread hyper race consciousness into every aspect of American life, and demolish equality. It is not a new concept, just an updated version of affirmative action and quotas which came to the fore in the 1960s and ‘70s.
A fundamental determinant for democratic government is equality—equal treatment by the government and legal system and equal opportunity to achieve. This principle is enshrined in the Constitution and several major Supreme Court decisions.
Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868, states in part:
… nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws (emphasis added).
This was strengthened with the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964:
The law outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and later sexual orientation and gender identity. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination.
Pretty clear, neither the government nor public and private businesses can discriminate against people on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Has equality always been adhered to? Unfortunately, no, or there would have been no need for the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court decisions. On the plus side, our society recognized when change was necessary and made appropriate adjustments.
However, equality under the law and in opportunity is not enough for some people, leftists, and their contemporary fellow travelers—the “woke.” They now insist on “diversity, inclusion, and equity.”
Simply put, equity means all employment opportunities, admission to college, and so on must reflect the racial and sexual makeup of the country. Currently, the racial makeup is: whites 60%; Hispanic 18%; blacks 13%; and Asian 6%. The remaining 3% are other or mixed. Equity also demands a 50-50 split for men and women. Equity means equality of outcome.
For example, say there are 100 spaces open for incoming students at a university. If the percentage of each race entering the school does not match the number in society, equity is not served. The Left calls this a disparate outcome.
According to equity proponents, all disparity in outcomes—where blacks or some other group are underrepresented compared to whites—equals discrimination. It doesn’t matter if the policy guiding these outcomes is race-neutral and is implemented by race-neutral people. If the outcome produces a disparity, then it must be racist. This equation conveniently forgets all other factors.
What about merit—the individual’s ambition, knowledge, experience, skills, intelligence, and energy? While certainly not perfect (slavery, segregation, women as not full citizens, etc.), the United States is rightly considered a bastion of meritocracy, especially in the past few decades. Meritocracy replaced a system based heavily on patronage, nepotism, and exclusion. Its goal is to treat people as individuals rather than members of a group and to distribute opportunities according to ability and talent.
Interestingly enough, a vast majority of Americans, including a majority of black Americans, prefer a college admission system based on merit. A Pew poll from 2019 found that 73% of all Americans and 62% of black Americans opposed the use of racial preferences in college admissions.
One of the most visible equity/diversity and Critical Race Theory advocates, Boston University Professor Ibram X. Kendi, in his bestselling book How to Be an Anti-Racist, claims that “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” He suggests that what he labels white systemic racism be replaced by black systemic racism. Kendi sends an Orwellian message, “All racism bad! But some racism good!”
Apparently, Kendi graduated from the George Wallace school of race relations. For those too young to remember or who have a lacuna in their understanding of American history, four-term governor of Alabama George Wallace infamously said in his first inauguration as governor in 1963, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”
How does this work in real life? Not surprisingly, equity and diversity are implemented in an odd way. If whites or men are overrepresented in an occupation or school admission, the Left and woke people agitate for redress. However, if blacks or women are overrepresented, the Left and the woke are silent. Essentially, as many critics have pointed out, equity is inherently racist.
Is this really happening in 2021 America? Unfortunately, yes.
In October 2021, David Duvall, a white male marketing senior vice president at Novant Health, a North Carolina health organization overseeing 15 hospitals and hundreds of outpatient centers and clinics, won a legal judgment in a civil case against Novant Health. A federal jury awarded him $10,000,000 in a “reverse discrimination” suit. He was fired a few days short of his fifth work anniversary. His performance reviews were excellent. Duvall was replaced by two women—one white and one black. Duvall claimed he was fired as part of the hospital’s five-year diversity plan and that four other white men had lost their jobs to “diversify” the health care group.
Okay, blatantly unconstitutional and downright stupid, discrimination driven by diversity and equity cost this hospital $10,000,000. Evidently being “woke” is more important than $10,000,000 for new equipment or more doctors and nurses to help people.
That may happen in the private sector, but surely government does not practice racial discrimination under the guise of “diversity.” Well, yes it does. There are scores of examples over the past few years. Let’s examine that very progressive state, Oregon. You’d think the state government of Oregon, being so woke and all, would be sensitive to overt discrimination. You would be wrong.
A Hispanic female business owner, Maria Garcia, owns a coffee shop in downtown Portland. Due to the pandemic lockdowns, she shut down her business for three months. During the pandemic, the state of Oregon established a $62,000,000 fund, the coronavirus relief fund also known as the Oregon Cares Fund, to assist black-owned businesses. Recently, Ms. Garcia sued the state of Oregon, claiming the Oregon Cares Fund was an unconstitutional act of discrimination. She won.
In March of this year, a white-owned timber salvage company also sued Oregon over racial discrimination in how the Oregon Cares Fund was distributed. He won and the state agreed to a settlement of up to $230,000.
The state suspended the fund amid ongoing legal battles after distributing $49,500,000 to black-owned businesses.
Clearly, the Oregon Cares Fund does not care much about non-black people. What were they thinking? That only black business owners were affected by the pandemic? This program sure promoted diversity.
Let’s explore the other side of equity/diversity—where blacks are represented way out of proportion to their percentage in the population. Surely, our leftist and woke brothers and sisters will see this injustice and call for equity and diversity. Unfortunately, ideological consistency is not their strong point.
According to racial equality activist Richard Lapchick, the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2020 was composed of 74.2 percent black players, 16.9 percent white players, 2.2 percent Latino players of any race, and 0.4 percent Asian players. There were 6.3 percent of the players classified as “other” races. The League has the highest percentage of black players of any major professional sports league in the United States and Canada.
Where is the outcry about this imbalance? I imagine if the black and white percentages were reversed, ESPN and CNN and MSNBC would be discussing the injustice every hour of every day. The next time that happens will be the first time.
If you’re not willing to fire 60 percent of black NBA players and replace them with the proper percentage of whites, Latinos and Asians then what you want isn’t equity. It’s targeted inequity, designed to satisfy a warped notion of fair play.
By the way, the racial imbalance is similar in the National Football League, with the same outcry from the Left—silence.
Why so many black players in the NBA? Because they earned it. They are the best players based on their abilities—merit-based selection. Wow, what a concept, hiring players based on their skills instead of skin color.
How about applying this everywhere? Think of it. People are hired, promoted, admitted to college, and so on based on their merit instead of race or sex. I prefer my airplane pilot and my surgeon to be employed based upon the color of their skin and gender. Not based upon who is best qualified for the job … said no one—ever.
Who really cares if your doctor, airline pilot, or teacher is black, white, brown, or whatever color? No one that I’ve ever met. What is important is if that doctor, airline pilot, or teacher is qualified.
Essentially the debate between equality and equity/diversity is a debate between individualism and collectivism. Do we treat people as individuals or as members of a collective—identity politics. The former has certainly had a bumpy road, but as a society, we have reached great heights in treating and judging people by their talents and behavior. The latter ignores the individual and focuses on group identity as the defining characteristic for any person.
This is where we are now. Our country has struggled to end the stains of racism and discrimination. Any rational person would argue we have done a good job—we fought a vicious civil war more than 150 years ago to end slavery; ended race-based civil rights violations in the 1960s; twice elected a black man as president; and thousands of elected and appointed federal, state, and local officials are persons of color. For decades some of the most revered and well-paid entertainers and athletes are black; the US has numerous black millionaires; the country currently has historically high interracial marriages; black immigration to the US has increased fivefold since 1980 (816,000 black immigrants in the US in 1980, 4.2 million in 2016—why do black immigrants flock to a systemically racist county?); and on and on. If we are a racist nation, we suck at it.
Frankly, I’d be embarrassed to be a leftist/woke person advocating “diversity and equity.” The best they can do is try to guilt-trip white people and spread racial divisiveness with supercharged affirmative action. Perhaps they can hire Michael J. Fox as their spokesperson and he could take us all back to the future. Back to when opportunity, or lack thereof, was based on color or sex. Where’s a DeLorean when you need one?
Sources
Daily Caller. “University Paid Ibram X. Kendi $20,000 for Hour-Long Event.” By Kendall Tietz. October 18, 2021. https://dailycaller.com/2021/10/18/ibram-kendi-20000-university-pay-hour-event-michigan/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2360&tpcc%3D=newsletter&pnespid=pLViCjQZKaFG3uvKpyWwFpiArQyuVop8J.nlmOBosgBm4k3F3WmE3mLad3l_ajAwm0KKc4xEAg
Daily Mail. “White male marketing VP at North Carolina hospital wins $10 million ‘reverse discrimination’ payout after he was replaced by two women—one of whom is black— as part of diversity and inclusion program.” By Jennifer Smith. October 27, 2021. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10136219/White-marketing-VP-North-Carolina-hospital-wins-10million-reverse-discrimination-payout.html?fbclid=IwAR1BTPPPO5JnC-5UI3ade5jsVSYC3ZMgpO2ynEoRs7A_yIPk8REXOlUiUVU
Fox News. “Oregon settles with Hispanic business owner who sued over Covid fund exclusive to Black residents.” By Breck Dumas. October 8, 2021. https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-settles-with-hispanic-business-owner-who-sued-over-covid-fund-only-for-black-business-owners
Ibram X. Kendi. How to be an Antiracist. 2019. Published by One World. https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Antiracist-Ibram-Kendi/dp/0525509283/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=How+to+Be+an+Antiracist&qid=1633219986&sr=8-1
The Independent. “A Liberal’s Take on Critical Race Theory.” By Howard Sierer. August 15, 2021. https://suindependent.com/critical-race-theory/
Inside Higher Ed. “Most Americans Say Colleges Shouldn’t Consider Race.” By Scott Jaschik. March 4, 2019. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/03/04/survey-finds-most-americans-say-colleges-shouldnt-consider-race
The New York Times. Jury Awards $10 Million to White Male Executive in Discrimination Case.” By Michael Levenson. October 28, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/us/david-duvall-firing-lawsuit-diversity.html
Penguin Newsletter “Ibram X. Kendi defines what it means to be an antiracist.” June 9, 2020. https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/june/ibram-x-kendi-definition-of-antiracist.html
Pew Research Center. “Key facts about black immigrants in the U.S.” By Monica Anderson and Gustavo Lopez. January 24, 2018. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/24/key-facts-about-black-immigrants-in-the-u-s/
The Post Millennial. “Hispanic business owner sues Oregon for prioritizing black-owned companies for pandemic relief.” By Katie Daviscourt. October 8, 2021. https://thepostmillennial.com/hispanic-owner-sues-oregon-prioritized-pandemic-relief?utm_campaign=64474&fbclid=IwAR0XPtWtWoXLYwaq5Ixv0EonQzrRT3s231HeLWQm7vR6l0e_C3JB9rxnTQ0
United States Census. “Quick Facts.” https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219
Wall Street Journal. “Meritocracy Is Worth Defending.” By Jason L. Riley. August 17, 2021. https://www.wsj.com/articles/meritocracy-wooldridge-kendi-carlson-admissions-standardized-tests-affirmative-action-cuny-11629237426
Wikipedia. “Black players in professional American football.” Last modified October 9, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_players_in_professional_American_football
Wikipedia. “Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Last modified June 9, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964
Wikipedia. “Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” Last modified June 2, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Wikipedia, “George Wallace.” Last modified October 30, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace
Wikipedia. “Race and ethnicity in the NBA.” Last modified August 25, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_NBA
Viewpoints and perspectives expressed throughout The Independent are those of the individual contributors. They do not necessarily reflect those held by the staff of The Independent or our advertising sponsors. Your comments, rebuttals, and contributions are welcome in accordance with our Terms of Service. Please be respectful and abide by our Community Rules. If you have privacy concerns you can view our Privacy Policy here. Thank you!
Click here to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or a Letter to the Editor
