These are unprecedented times for DEI.
They are not unanticipated times.
And, despite the fact that the #DisCo spent the bulk of the Biden years centering themselves in discussions pertaining to DEI- to the point of succeeding in getting an “A” for “accessibility” added to the acronym- in response to that administration’s attempt to shift from its commitment to “root out” systemic racism to merely throwing money at making the oppressive system more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible, we at the Lois Curtis Center are seeing in action what we’ve always known:
DEI is about race- the Black race, specifically.
The evidence is simple and as follows: when DEI is being utilized as a dog whistle and/or an individual is maligned as a “diversity hire”, it is Black people that are specifically invoked, not white women, white people with disabilities, white people who are LGBTQ+, or any other marginalized identity that is inclusive of white people. And, everywhere, from 2020 big box retail DEI champion Target discontinuing its commitment to DEI to Texas Governor Greg Abbott (a wheelchair user) issuing a proclamation that effectively banishes DEI from his state to human service nonprofits coast to coast that receive federal funding grappling with how to continue to receive their grants/contracts whilst simultaneously and sufficiently distancing themselves from the Black people they purport to serve, DEI is effectively being lynched right before our eyes.
Everyone Wants to be "Included"... Until it's Time to be Excluded
There are historical and current imperatives for the disability community to prioritize DEI initiatives, such as affirmative action, that address racial disparities. There are challenges faced by the disability community due to the rollback of such policies, but barriers to such acknowledgement happening include the disability community’s failure to affirm the diverse backgrounds within the community itself; its failure to acknowledge the anti-Blackness, including internalized anti-Blackness, that permeates disability spaces; and, finally, the perception within the disability community that they can have their DEI cake and eat it, too, with white members of the disability community using their privilege to both center themselves in DEI when there’s money or exposure to be had, yet excuse themselves from the table when the DEI party is over, so to speak. Although all of this largely unacknowledged, this has led to a breakdown of the disability community on a fundamental level in that, although it touts the fact that “anyone can join the disability community at any time” in word, it refuses to affirm this in deed.
Although DEI as a business and a career avenue has financially benefitted white people over Black people, as we are currently seeing, Black people are pushed front and center-oftentimes, by the same white people who were centering themselves when DEI was lucrative- when it is critiqued, maligned, and/or repealed. Thus, we all are seeing DEI for what it is: a tool to aid in marginalized white people’s advancement and a weapon of obstruction against the advancement of those that are Black.
No one ever accuses a white man in a wheelchair as being a “diversity hire”.
Roll Back DEI, Roll On, #DisCo
The Supreme Court's decision in the 2023 case of Fair Students v. Harvard University ended the use of affirmative action in educational institutions. The writing was, in effect, printed in large font on the wall for all to see. Yet the disability community, as well as other marginalized communities inclusive of white people (and the political party that purports to be the “big tent” that represents the concerns of marginalized people), refused to adequately recognize the potential impact of this rollback, as it was primarily seen as a "race" issue. The decision to not take action left everything related to DEI vulnerable to the scrutiny and, ultimately, dismantling by the factions whose eyes are always turned towards undermining any and all attempts to tamper with the oppressive system.
Given the fact that it was made clear to everyone during the Biden years, including these factions, that there will never be serious effort put forth by the “Big Tent”, the nonprofit industrial complex, and subsidiary activist/advocate spaces to do anything to dismantle said system, they know they are free to disembowel DEI- and take aim at Black people- with abandon.
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