“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less…The question is, which is to be the master—that’s all.”
With these words, written by Louis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass, our fragile eggshell friend set out the rules for one of the most powerful tools of discrimination.
Throughout history, when one group sets out to purposefully create a subordinate class, or to invent a distraction from their own deficiencies, they generally begin by creating a name for that group, one that identifies them as sub-human, as not worthy, as lesser than us. Next, a story needs to be concocted about the harm that group has done, something heinous, like using the blood of children in religious rituals, or poisoning the water supply of the whole town. Finally, using these manufactured stories, the dominant group secures its top seed simply by being different and, therefore, better, than the Other.
To our credit, over the past few decades, the people of America have brought these myths and prejudices out into the open and consciously decided to even the odds for all, as democracy demands, to rid ourselves of these made-up myths and to purposefully become a better and more egalitarian society.
Of course, that doesn’t sit well with those who, despite their mediocrity, have been coasting into leadership, wealth, position and favor simply by being a member of the group that created the stories about the Other and, incidentally, stories about their own greater talents. No; it doesn’t sit well, at all.
To counter their startling slippage in superiority, those who have felt their benefits eroding have tried a slightly different tack. They have decided to attack the remedies, themselves, including education, which identifies the ways in which these myths and stories have propped up the unearned advantages of the top-of-the-heap minority.
First, of course, there was the attack on Critical Race Theory. Critical Race Theory is nothing more than a way to come to grips and understand how American racism has shaped public policy throughout our history by deliberately segregating housing, imposing unequal criminal justice policies, limiting the accrual of wealth and creating lopsided policies all the way back to the days of enslavement. It posits that racism is more than an individual belief or act, but, rather, a widespread cultural phenomenon, a construct of stories, rather than a personal choice. Many of us presented the same theory involving sexism, in developing Feminist Jurisprudence in the 80s, having to convince people through anecdotal evidence, and then, through studies, that domestic violence was widespread and not just a matter of one or two men losing their tempers, and that the lack of women in leadership occurred because of a deliberately shared story about the naturally superior abilities of men.
Well, you get the idea. Critical Race Theory had to be pilloried as sowing hatred and giving minorities some sort of advantage. Create the enemy. Knock it down.
DEI, from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to Destroy Everything Instantly
Next came new programs which were loosely grouped under the shorthand DEI: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The idea was that you would make a conscious effort not to automatically exclude anyone from your job search based on stories you have been taught about the hierarchy of superiority. Once there, do something to make certain that the playing field was more level so that those joining your workforce would actually be able to function to the highest level of their competence, and not be hamstrung by a failure to recognize the differences they brought with them, whether physical, or in culturally allocated duties, such as childbearing and family responsibilities, or lack of resources, or barriers to educational advantages. Nothing could be more benign, we thought. Unlearn the stories you had absorbed as a child. Make a few changes in physical set-ups. Grow up.
These programs were perceived, somehow, to lessen the advantage of those already in power, and now those mediocre entities are fighting back with the same old stories. Since the dominant group has more power than ever, they are defunding, not only DEI programs across the country, but also the basic budgets of any entity that has such a program. Predictably, many corporations (who may not have been too enthusiastic about the programs from the get-go) have obediently cut the programs, many before any requirement to do so. Who can blame them? It is difficult to give up privilege. It is uncomfortable to explore one’s own prejudices and work for change.
But what kinds of programs were funded? Ramps and sidewalk curb cuts so people in wheelchairs could actually cross the street or enter a building. Subtitles and captions in TV programs and on phones for those with hearing difficulties. Institutional ways to get help with harassment. Non-smoking areas. Rooms in which to pray and meditate at work. Critical materials issued in different languages. Religious options at hospitals. Flexible work arrangements. Private nursing areas so that new mothers, needing to nurse their infants, wouldn’t have to sit on a toilet to do so.
And, again, the unanointed top of the heap have characterized such programs as giving an unfair advantage to particular groups.
Schools have cut Black studies, barred the use of club meeting rooms for ethnic groups on campus, ended cultural diversity days. They have discontinued, out of fear, and under threat, many things that help us to understand and appreciate each other. And many of those schools have “obeyed in advance”, going further than murkily required and acting before any order had even been issued.
Ursula K. LeGuin, in The Left Hand of Darkness wrote about the concepts of “same” and “different”. As I remember it, she taught that “same” and “different” were actually nurturing words, learning words. They allowed us to see our differences from each other and expand from them, sort of like the first time I ate Pho at a neighbor’s house, or swung at a piñata in another’s backyard, and learned the stories that came with them. “No,” she then concluded, “The killing words are ‘better’ and ‘worse’.”
Conclusion: It is important to suss out the real goals of the shaky, propped-up minority in destroying these programs. Just as we are realizing that society actually improves in productivity and civility because we embrace diversity, equity and inclusion, those who are losing their grip on the top spots panic and need to denigrate (remember, this pejorative means “blacken”) and eliminate them. Want to fight back? Support those businesses who have not caved and punish those who have. Support those universities and colleges who are holding onto their programs. Anything that isn’t just a thundering silence helps.
Sheila
