Some folks want to believe that the integrated considerations of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging have gone by the wayside, beaten into oblivion by the current federal (feral?) administration and authorities.
While we do see these terms and all they stand for less frequently in the news and media cycles, there is still some incredible work being done to build and reconstruct these values on local, state, and national levels, no matter what those out of D.C. are ranting about. Perhaps it’s background music, but it will become a full symphonic overture in the months ahead, especially following the mid-term s/elections as the sun hopefully sets on Trump’s dictatorship.
The attempt to eliminate DEIB from our lexicon, daily activities, and values has clearly failed — and that makes it even worse for this sordid and soon-to-be exiled federal and congressional “leadership.” This effort is based entirely on two things: fear and ignorance. This follows the equation for all forms of oppression: O (Oppression) = F (Fear) + I (Ignorance).
Given the self-approved “fact” that Trump has never, ever failed or lost at anything he has endeavored to try, these twin defeats (the DEI “comeback” and the draining of the Republican swamp in November) will infuriate him and his nebbish-like sycophants. He and his minions have proven repeatedly that they will stop at nothing — literally — to clear the landscape of anyone not adhering to his ways and sucking up to his paranoid, grandiose, and self-aggrandizing vision.
We should all be concerned about his ongoing desire to cancel and kill any political initiatives designed to support individuals and groups that sit outside of the older white male cohort — which, by the way, is no longer a majority in this country (perhaps he and his are fearful that they have lost majority status, and ignorant of the fact that there are good people who are different than himself).
I believe the majority of those of us living on so-called “American” soil are far more generous, humble, and curious than the rhetoric that comes spewing out of the White House and most federal and many statewide governmental power centers. We understand the necessity to see and act for the betterment of the collective — people other than and even far different than ourselves.
Even in times of disagreement and conflict, how many of us would take the aggressive, violent, and hatred-laced steps he has taken to minimize the voice, stature, and livelihood of immigrants, minorities, women, veterans, elders, LGBTQIA+, the folks who are impoverished and hungry and under- or unemployed, and progressive folks working their butts off for positive change? Most of us care about and for those whose lives are more challenging than our own.
What on earth is so wrong about working with and for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging? Aren’t these some of the bedrock values of being human, of human beings? We should all want to care for and about others and their lives and livelihoods no matter what. Serving them — a core value in and of itself — serves all of us, and makes us all stronger, better, more cohesive, and more deeply engaged in the bettering of our individual and collective lives. Why would one not want and work for these ideals? Beyond fear and ignorance, perhaps it’s about other things — but all of this makes us smaller.
A terrific, little-but-powerful book, one I have used over decades of my undergraduate and even graduate-level teaching — “The Nibble Theory and the Kernel of Power” by Kaleel Jamison — makes the point that by merely “nibbling” on others to make ourselves feel and appear bigger and better, we actually do the opposite: we rip at the very fabric that makes us whole and strong. In her book, Jamison writes,
This way of living works like a candle. When you give away some of the light from the candle, by lighting another person’s candle, there isn’t less light because you’ve given some away — there’s more. That works with love too. And that works with this growth theory. When everybody grows, there isn’t less of anybody; there’s more of — and for — everybody.
Trump and others don’t just nibble — they swallow whole those whose beliefs and lifestyles and values differ from their own. The derisive and dismissive rhetoric that’s been coming forward over these past 10 years is intended purely to divide, conquer, maim, kill, and eradicate. This is the quintessential opposite of building loving relationships and community. If you are given to deepening your understanding of any or all of this, this tiny book is available at most public libraries and generally takes less than one hour to read — yet years to understand and practice.
The good news going forward, and hopefully coming out of the upcoming mid-term elections, is that there are many candidates in most places who support and engage the learnings and teachings of DEIB. In my mind, it is both sacred and sacrosanct that those of us who have the privilege/right/opportunity to vote now through Nov. 3 not only do so, but share and talk and listen to others, most especially those with differing viewpoints, and get them to the polls as well.
For our democracy to live — better yet, thrive — our vote, our activities, our passion, and our compassion need to come forth stronger than ever before. And let’s be sure that, in doing so, we bring DEIB back front and center to who we are and how we live our lives.