On DEI

I just have a blog that nobody reads, but I want to express something I think everyone with a platform should be saying right now¹:

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are unequivocally good things, and the campaign against these things (always shortened to “DEI” to divorce them from their actual meaning) is led by people who either publicly or privately harbor ugly feelings about their peers and neighbors; people who are unhappy about having to compete on a level playing field with people whose worth they consider less than their own.

They would have you believe that diversity is at odds with merit or talent, but they won’t say so plainly because of course that’s absurd, racist, bigoted. In fact if you’re only hiring people who look like, well… me, you’re not hiring the best option every time, because the best option is by no means guaranteed to be an able-bodied, straight, cis white dude.

They want to you to think equity is about giving an unfair advantage to less-qualified people, but it’s about meeting people where they are—setting up the circumstances for people to do their best work. Workplaces already do that for people like me, and if anything that is the unfair advantage—but equity’s opponents already know this, and they don’t want to give that up.

And they would have you believe inclusion means devaluing your voice to give a voice to someone undeserving, but again: that’s not inclusive. Inclusion is about making sure everyone is heard, everyone gets a chance to show what they can do. If you oppose that, you’re the one who wants special treatment.