Have we come to the end of the journey toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

A cancer research organization had to revise a grant proposal because it contained the word ‘diversity.’ 

Thousands of corporations dropped any mention of diversity and inclusion, and fired or reassigned officers with a ‘d’, ‘e’, or ‘I’ in their title. 

Veteran Administration staff were essentially told they had to kiss the ring of President Donnie Trump or face losing their jobs. 

The butt-kissing was part of a year-long divestment in government job reviews after the President signed an executive order banning anything thought to be an advantage—equalization of Black hiring practices. 

Even though those minuscule offerings fell far short of equalizing the playing field, they offended White sensibilities and threatened the racist status quo. 

In fact, Whites have been successful in 99.9% of ‘civil rights’ claims in which they alleged they were ‘discriminated’ against, including a couple of Milwaukee cases, the last of which was the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which threatened a lawsuit. 

Yeah, forget all of that B.S. about a brown/black alliance. When push came to shove, Hispanics chose ‘White Latino.’ 

‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.’ In layman’s terms, DEI is, or was, a form of affirmative action. Republicans like Richard Nixon and Democrats like Joe Biden (talk about unique bedfellows) embraced affirmative action, even though the former would have fought for the Confederacy had the southern exodus been facilitated 100 years later. 

Ironically, it was a Democrat, Bill (I love the darkies and play the sax) Clinton, who took the teeth out of the program. Clinton changed the key wording from quotas to goals. 

For Milwaukee, for example, that meant a policy in which a stated number of police and fire department hirings was replaced with ‘goals’, which essentially meant ‘we will try,’ instead of ‘we will’… 

King Trump’s policy on DEI—Executive Order 14151 ‘Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferences, essentially banned anything that would equalize the playing field. 

His order resulted in corporations abandoning programs that contained the words equal, diversity, inclusion and Black, with a small or capital ‘b.’ 

It brings to mind a scenario when I was a member of the Miller Park (Brewers) stadium board. 

The three brothers with direct input in stadium policies put together a ‘scheme’ in which we sought to negotiate a deal with a foreign company that did not meet the qualifications for a multimillion-dollar contract because they did not meet the MBE ‘set-aside’ requirement. 

The company sought a waiver. 

We proposed a solution in which I would vote affirmatively for the waiver if the company agreed to contract with a ‘Black’ company for an annual maintenance contract worth millions annually. 

It sounded good on the surface, but secondsafter my proposal was made—which mentionedthe term ‘Black business’—echoed through theconference room, an earthquake shook the stadium, hell was hit by an ice storm, and WILL, the anti-Black and brown legal institute that fights affirmative action at every turn, was put on high alert. 

The proposal was tabled, and I was sent to theprincipal’s (lawyer’s) office, where I was told ourMBE program—the toughest in the state—would not withstand court scrutiny, based on prior court rulings. 

Rules were bent with Governor TommyThompson’s support of state Senator SpenceCoggs’ legislation, and no one was hurt in the process. As it turned out, the stadium’s MBE program was the most successful in the country. 

As long as you didn’t mention the word ‘Black.’ The disadvantaged might fly. And women’s or veterans’ businesses were permissible. 

But Black…as the saying goes, get back. 

That was years ago, and things have not gotten better. 

The adjective/noun Black has morphed into a dozen different references to people of color as America has moved further and further to the right—which is wrong. 

Have we come to the end of the road?’ Not if the end is the beginning. Hopefully, the next president will support restoring economic sanity and reinvest in equity and equality. 

Hotep.