The Biden Administration pushed for a society of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the last four years. DEI programs were sustained as a source of providing underrepresented and discriminated groups the support and funding necessary to thrive.
However, have things gone too far?
The Trump Administration thinks so. They issued an order that all schools have two weeks to end race-based programs, or else they will not continue to receive federal funding. His administration has taken this foot forward because they believe DEI has morphed into an attempt to overrule merit with race. (On Friday, a federal judge temporarily paused President Trump’s order for a federal funding freeze.)
The Collegian Editorial Board took a vote regarding the situation.
Eight disagree with the ban of DEI
Trump’s attempt at banning DEI and race-based programs could never be successful because we live in a society where equal opportunities are not available to everyone. America is known as the “land of the free,” but the reality is, America has not lived up to that. Not everyone is considered equal and this is why DEI is such an important thing to have.
Our country is full of people from all different backgrounds which is beautiful and should be celebrated. Our country has been fighting centuries of systemic racism toward underrepresented groups such as women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, etc. and getting rid of DEI funding is the opposite of helping this situation. In a time where the country is already so divided, we need to be ensuring that we stay together as much as possible and embracing our diversity is a huge part of that.
Historically these communities have had to work harder to have their voices heard to gain access to these fundamental needs. This order will continue to set back their efforts and there is a deep concern that this is only the beginning.
The reality is first-generation and minority groups have bigger hills to climb and bigger obstacles to overcome in relation to other groups of individuals which is why DEI programs are so important to remain intact throughout the nation. Extra money through scholarships and extra support programs are a vital aspect to helping with education, hiring and career advancement. This is the need for long-term societal equity. Without them, progress towards closing gaps in wealth, education and health outcomes will reverse.
President Trump may have the desire to lower government spending and this may be the way that he deems best fit to do so, however it is all about the process. He cannot give schools an ultimatum of only two weeks and not provide any further insight about the situation. What is the next step from here?
If Trump is wanting to take these steps forward regarding DEI, there needs to be some sort of plan to go along with it. He cannot simply strip these groups, that are already experiencing underrepresentation, from scholarships and funding that has been implemented in the first place to give them the step forward they need.
Three agree with the ban of DEI
Due to the way the Biden Administration has routed things, DEI has taken a turn that isn’t necessarily for the better.
As it is true that in our nation, not everyone starts their race of life at the same starting line and not everyone is exposed to the same resources and opportunities, there needs to be some sort of balance when it comes to the idea of DEI.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1965 was established to help prevent workers from being treated unfairly due to factors like race, gender, religion or national origin. This meant hiring individuals from all different types of backgrounds, done through affirmative action.
However, it has come to a point where it is questionable if these DEI programs have furthered discrimination. That sounds like an extremely negative and unreasonable thing to say, but over the past four years before Trump entered office, things with the Biden Administration didn’t seem to change.
There was still so much cultural divide. Dare we say it worsened? Has the racial gap really closed?
Funding should be available to those groups that are in need of help, but the first step of finding unity in a nation is balancing the weighing scale. Our nation began with one side of the weighing scale lifted in the profit of the prioritized majority groups, leaving minority groups at the bottom.
Now there seems to not only be assistance provided to those groups, but so much money has been taken from the federal government. Federal funding needs to be managed, government spending needs to be cut, simply done in an ethical way. The posture of some of these underrepresented groups has developed into an attitude of further divide and the weighing scale has switched.
They are wanting more and more and more. This is not the case for everyone, and it is absolutely true that some of these groups need help, but in a country where everyone should be equal, everyone should be equal. There are people from all races who need help and it is the truth that some have been turned away from this help because they were born on the wrong side of the privilege fence.
It needs to begin with leadership. With Trump entering office, we can only hope that this will come.
It really may not seem this way right now, but countries need structure and they need order. There have been many scenarios where merit should have been prioritized first and it simply wasn’t, which only adds to our nation’s damage.
The Biden Administration has created a bit of a mess in the name of being equal. Trump is scrapping everything and restarting. He is not truly going to diminish all of these groups of their resources. He is starting over to create a nation of true balance on the weighing scale.