Supporting DEI
Feb. 19th, 2025 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebWe can resist some of the craziness going on right now by voting with our dollars, the only language big business understands.
What's DEI?
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It includes things that have also been called fairness, equal rights, and civil rights. Here is a tiny list of some examples of how to make things more diverse, equitable, and inclusive:
* equal pay for equal work
* ramps
* floating holidays
* changing stations in men's rooms
* lefty scissors
* subtitles and captions
* audiobooks
* step stools
* glasses and hearing aids
* shampoo for all hair types
It turns out that many of these accommodations are handy for all kinds of people, not just those who really need them.
But there has been a backlash from people who, well, I hope it's an exaggeration to say that they would rather live in a world where they get to have slaves and beat up their wives and roll people in wheelchairs off cliffs for fun.
The boycott
In the face of the current US president's action to end government DEI, many companies have also been rolling back their DEI programs.
In response, "Dr. Jamal Bryant, the influential pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, is leading a 40-day economic fast--or boycott--of Target in direct response to the retailer's decision to phase out its DE&I initiatives" including a pledge of $2 billion in investments toward Black-owned businesses. "And the impact of the boycott is already felt. Since Black consumers began boycotting Target, the company's stock has dropped by $11." (See The Villager's 2/14/25 issue.)
The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, is urging people to educate themselves and spend accordingly, focusing on Black businesses when possible.
The Latino Freeze movement says that so long as they freeze NIH, DEI, immigration, we freeze spending. They have lists of companies that are and are not committed to DEI and also good advice on doing your own research.
What I'm Doing
I'm not a single-issue consumer. I mean, Dollar Tree is on Latino Freeze's list of committed businesses, but they still treat their employees like garbage. Still, it feels good to see that my main two grocery stores, HEB and Trader Joe's, are on the committed side of their list.
Businesses I use on the other side include Home Depot, Ace Hardware (Breed and Co.), Google, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and Toyota.
Target - I've heard from friends that Target has also had far fewer of the fun LGBTQ items than in the past. So I'm considering switching to People's Pharmacy, Sprouts, and/or Wheatsville Food Coop for toiletries and writing Target a letter describing my disappointment in their recent turnaround. I already buy most of my clothes at thrift shops, but I'll be looking for new places to get socks and undies.
Google - This is another company that I used to love but that has been disappointing me more and more. Now they make me sit around and wait while they put together an AI answer to my search request. I'm happier when I remember to add "-ai" to the end of my search requests, but I'm thinking of trying some other search engines. Duck Duck Go seems the obvious choice. If I don't like that, maybe Yahoo. Recommendations appreciated!
Other - In general, I'm trying to buy more things used, direct from the source, or from coops or B-corps. For example, I almost never use Amazon anymore--another company I used to love that has become disappointing. I now look for books I want from Half Price (also evil in its own ways) and Powell's in Seattle. I did some research before buying my last pair of shoes and went with REI. I bought the board game Finspan direct from Stonemeier Games, though I still like Tanuki Games for other purchases. Of course it's impossible to be fully informed and it's time consuming, so I'm sure some of my decisions are worse, but I feel that overall, things are better.
I'm also writing a lot of letters. I don't write on everything important. But I do check my emails for petitions (many of which are now actually e-mails which you can change the wording on--and I do) and occasionally write letters out of the blue. Phone calls are more effective, but ugh. I also went to the President's Day protest since I do live in one of the 50 state capitols.
Letter-writing strategies
Sometimes I get to have fun with my letters like the time I said how it was hard to think of a worse choice to lead some important health department, but "fortunately Thanos is fictional."
And my basic mantra is that we can do better. And as public servants, we rely on them to...
I like to promise my Republican Senators that if Trump decides to run an opponent in the next primary because they are being too decent, I promise I will vote in the Republican primary (you don't have to belong to a party to vote in a primary in Texas, but you are allowed to vote only in one) so that I can vote for him. Last time Trump endorsed opponents, most of them won, so I understand the fear. But someone at the protest said that although the Trump-endorsed opponents tend to win the primaries, they also tend to be more likely to lose the general election. Still, I could never hope that someone even scummier than my reps would win even a primary.
And when I'm in a position to respond in person to people who are spouting craziness, I've decided that rather than call them idiots or whatever, I will just point out that they've been lied to. This puts us in the same boat--us against the liars, rather than dividing us.
And then whenever I find myself unable to think of anything more useful to say than "I hate you so much!" or "What is wrong with you?" I know it's time for a break.
What's DEI?
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It includes things that have also been called fairness, equal rights, and civil rights. Here is a tiny list of some examples of how to make things more diverse, equitable, and inclusive:
* equal pay for equal work
* ramps
* floating holidays
* changing stations in men's rooms
* lefty scissors
* subtitles and captions
* audiobooks
* step stools
* glasses and hearing aids
* shampoo for all hair types
It turns out that many of these accommodations are handy for all kinds of people, not just those who really need them.
But there has been a backlash from people who, well, I hope it's an exaggeration to say that they would rather live in a world where they get to have slaves and beat up their wives and roll people in wheelchairs off cliffs for fun.
The boycott
In the face of the current US president's action to end government DEI, many companies have also been rolling back their DEI programs.
In response, "Dr. Jamal Bryant, the influential pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, is leading a 40-day economic fast--or boycott--of Target in direct response to the retailer's decision to phase out its DE&I initiatives" including a pledge of $2 billion in investments toward Black-owned businesses. "And the impact of the boycott is already felt. Since Black consumers began boycotting Target, the company's stock has dropped by $11." (See The Villager's 2/14/25 issue.)
The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, is urging people to educate themselves and spend accordingly, focusing on Black businesses when possible.
The Latino Freeze movement says that so long as they freeze NIH, DEI, immigration, we freeze spending. They have lists of companies that are and are not committed to DEI and also good advice on doing your own research.
What I'm Doing
I'm not a single-issue consumer. I mean, Dollar Tree is on Latino Freeze's list of committed businesses, but they still treat their employees like garbage. Still, it feels good to see that my main two grocery stores, HEB and Trader Joe's, are on the committed side of their list.
Businesses I use on the other side include Home Depot, Ace Hardware (Breed and Co.), Google, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and Toyota.
Target - I've heard from friends that Target has also had far fewer of the fun LGBTQ items than in the past. So I'm considering switching to People's Pharmacy, Sprouts, and/or Wheatsville Food Coop for toiletries and writing Target a letter describing my disappointment in their recent turnaround. I already buy most of my clothes at thrift shops, but I'll be looking for new places to get socks and undies.
Google - This is another company that I used to love but that has been disappointing me more and more. Now they make me sit around and wait while they put together an AI answer to my search request. I'm happier when I remember to add "-ai" to the end of my search requests, but I'm thinking of trying some other search engines. Duck Duck Go seems the obvious choice. If I don't like that, maybe Yahoo. Recommendations appreciated!
Other - In general, I'm trying to buy more things used, direct from the source, or from coops or B-corps. For example, I almost never use Amazon anymore--another company I used to love that has become disappointing. I now look for books I want from Half Price (also evil in its own ways) and Powell's in Seattle. I did some research before buying my last pair of shoes and went with REI. I bought the board game Finspan direct from Stonemeier Games, though I still like Tanuki Games for other purchases. Of course it's impossible to be fully informed and it's time consuming, so I'm sure some of my decisions are worse, but I feel that overall, things are better.
I'm also writing a lot of letters. I don't write on everything important. But I do check my emails for petitions (many of which are now actually e-mails which you can change the wording on--and I do) and occasionally write letters out of the blue. Phone calls are more effective, but ugh. I also went to the President's Day protest since I do live in one of the 50 state capitols.
Letter-writing strategies
Sometimes I get to have fun with my letters like the time I said how it was hard to think of a worse choice to lead some important health department, but "fortunately Thanos is fictional."
And my basic mantra is that we can do better. And as public servants, we rely on them to...
I like to promise my Republican Senators that if Trump decides to run an opponent in the next primary because they are being too decent, I promise I will vote in the Republican primary (you don't have to belong to a party to vote in a primary in Texas, but you are allowed to vote only in one) so that I can vote for him. Last time Trump endorsed opponents, most of them won, so I understand the fear. But someone at the protest said that although the Trump-endorsed opponents tend to win the primaries, they also tend to be more likely to lose the general election. Still, I could never hope that someone even scummier than my reps would win even a primary.
And when I'm in a position to respond in person to people who are spouting craziness, I've decided that rather than call them idiots or whatever, I will just point out that they've been lied to. This puts us in the same boat--us against the liars, rather than dividing us.
And then whenever I find myself unable to think of anything more useful to say than "I hate you so much!" or "What is wrong with you?" I know it's time for a break.
Re: What DEI is
on 2025-02-21 07:58 pm (UTC)But back to the original topic, it certainly before boycotting or increasing support for a business based on its claims to have DEI policies or to be eliminating DEI policies, it makes sense to figure out what that actually means for them. That's another reason why it's good to write and explain why you're boycotting, so they can have the opportunity to tell their side of the story.
Re: What DEI is
on 2025-04-19 07:53 pm (UTC)https://x.com/TheRabbitHole84/status/1913612301091082436
An Asian in the top top (10th) decile had less chance to get into Harvard than an African American in the 4th decile.
Re: What DEI is
on 2025-04-19 10:48 pm (UTC)It made me wonder about who applies. Per https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cge/racial-ethnic-enrollment, in public schools there are about half as many Hispanics as [non-Hispanic?] Whites, half as many Blacks as Hispanics, and less than half as many Asians as Blacks. So for every 8 Whites, approximately: 4 Hispanics, 2 Blacks, and 1 Asian.
But per https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/10/19/acceptance-rates-by-race/, among Harvard applicants, there are "4,910 Asian-American, 1,938 African-American, 2,082 Hispanic-American, and 8,685 white students." So for every 8 Whites, approximately: only 2 Hispanics, still 2 Blacks, and 5 Asians.
I'm not sure what I want to conclude from that.
I'm still in the middle of The Identity Trap. Definitely some scary stuff in there, that's DEI and not affirmative action.
Re: What DEI is
on 2025-05-01 08:20 pm (UTC)The reason diversity became associated with AA was a 1978 Supreme Court case called Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. In that case, California was discriminating against whites and in favor of blacks in college admissions in order to compensate for the general history of anti-black discrimination in the U.S. and in order to achieve social equality of condition across racial lines. Bakke was a student denied admission. He sued and won. A 5-member majority of the court found that race discrimination intended to achieve social equality or compensate for past discrimination by other institutions violated the Civil Rights Act. Four other justices thought California's reasons were OK. (The decision is complicated, 6 separate justices wrote opinions, so I'm simplifying somewhat) However, one justice, Chief Justice Powell, said that race discrimination would be legal if implemented in order to gain the educational benefits for all the students that a diverse student body would, he averred, provide.
This provided a road map to other schools that wanted to discriminate on the basis of race. All they had to do was claim that their race discrimination was aimed at diversity. This is where the "D" in "DEI" really got started. Ever since, colleges that use racially discriminatory affirmative action have invoked "diversity."
Later, sometime in the early 21st Century, "Diversity" got packaged with "Equity, and Inclusion." That's why one can't draw a sharp distinction between AA on the one hand, and DEI on the other. They've been linked from the beginning.
Re: What DEI is
on 2025-05-01 08:43 pm (UTC)