The most interesting philosophical divide in our country right now is between those, like myself, who believe in individual merit, and those who in contrast, would substitute racial entitlements.
The problem with racial entitlement is that it does nothing to encourage hard work, conscientiousness, or creativity. If racial entitlement were to prevail, we would become a mediocre country, and China would be the power in the world.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is essentially the offspring of critical race theory (CRT.) It was evidently decided to use more favorable sounding words for racial preferences. As author Christopher Rufo states: “They synthesized, reduced, and euphemized, the intellectual work of Derrik Bell (CRT) and his disciples for mass adoption in school. In the ordinary use of the English language, diversity, equity, and inclusion, are very favorable words. They connote fairness. But in practice, they mean the exact opposite.”
Diversity refers to stereotyping everyone, pitting “victims” against “perpetrators”, originally whites but now including Asians. So the diversity is of stereotypes rather than individuals Equity means equal results by race. Inclusion means inclusion only of favored races and ideas, and exclusion of those belonging to “perpetrator” races. (America’s cultural Revolution by Christopher Rufo, p. 249, 253-54.)
Gail Heriot, a law professor who sits on the United States commission on civil rights was critical of Harvard’s practice of making candidates swear allegiance to DEI as a form of ideological conditioning. “At other universities, faculty candidates who respond… to such inquiries by saying …that they treat all individuals equally regardless of race … get excluded from consideration,“ she said. “The same is probably in store for any job candidates at Harvard who dissent from the campus orthodoxy on this issue.“ (Rufo quotation of Heriot, comment May 2025.)
The University of Colorado Boulder’s DEI program says their basic predicate is that “black, indigenous, and people of color,“ or “BIPOC “ students, are failing because of “white supremacy culture“. White supremacy culture is defined — get this — As “individualism,“ “Perfectionism,“ “A sense of urgency,” “Worship of the written word,“ and “objectivity“. (City Journal May 2025 )
To comment on just two of these: The written word is the key to civilization. Sense of urgency is one of the Department of Education’s public values since I took office in 2023.
In Arizona the public perception of what was being taught occurred during Covid, when students were taught over their laptops, and parents saw what was being taught. The parents revolted.
They went to school board meetings where they were treated as adversaries. So I established a hotline so that parents who did not find a receptive audience with their school board could communicate directly with the Department of Education.
Example of what came on hotline:
A teacher complained of professional development that she was receiving in the Mesa school district. She sent us a picture of a video in the professional development class that stated explicitly that the United States was a “white supremacist country.” When I publicized this, that particular professional development stopped.
A common DEI practice is to harass anyone criticizing a concept in a DEI class. Canadian K-12 principal Richard Bilszto committed suicide after being subject to this harassment. (David Haskell in Aristotle, Feb 1`2, 2024.)
A study found that DEI-driven policies such as implementing equity grading systems lowered academic standards and hindered student achievement. (Washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not elitism/3301163/problem-dei-k-12-publiceducation/?)
Another study found that DEI may lead to cultural essentialism and hinder open dialogue. Teachers reported that such trainings could create divisions among students and reduce resilience by promoting a culture of hypersensitivity.
A word on DEI’s predecessor, CRT. This is the definition of CRT written by one of its founders, Richard Delgado: “…critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law. (Delgado, Critical Race Theory, an Introduction, third edition, 2017.) Opposing these American principles is irrational.
Yay you oppose DEI but you remove the phones from our children so the next time a school is shot up they won’t be able to call home and say goodbye. You are a disgrace to our State. I regret voting for your tyranny.