Commentary
-
Our commentary partners will help you reach your own conclusions on complex topics.
The recent GOP attack on DEI is R-A-C-I-S-T. I know, at least try to look surprised. The political party that gave America Nixon’s Southern Strategy, Reagan’s Welfare Queen, Bush 41’s Willie Horton ad, and Trump’s depiction of Mexicans as rapists and drug traffickers, has now set its sights on colleges, with courses and programs that promote — now brace yourself, because this is really terrible —Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
For Republicans, whose party is still, believe it or not in 2023, overwhelmingly white, this is the unholy trilogy. The way they see it, all this emphasis on DEI, not just at colleges but also in corporations, organizations and foundations, why it’s just an elaborate scheme to allow people of color a chance to get even with white people for historical slights, real and imagined. In January, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the GOP self-appointed culture warrior, announced plans to block state colleges and universities in the Sunshine State from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion. Also in DeSantis’ sights is the concept of critical race theory, an obscure mode of teaching that encourages students to view history, not as a series of isolated one-off events, but in terms of patterns of systemic racism.
Suddenly, it seems race talk makes Republicans nervous. What? That’s absurd. Like the GOP hasn’t spent the last 50 years talking about race, trying to scare up votes from white folks by offering them protection from black and brown folks. That’s a major part of the Republican schtick. Crack it open and you get your tax cuts, strong defense and racial fear-mongering. That’s the GOP, folks. There ain’t nothing else.
Now all of a sudden, the American people are supposed to swallow the fairy tale that Republicans have found religion and gone colorblind. They’re better people, is that it? That doesn’t sound white. The way DeSantis tells it, any attempt to promote — now you might want to clutch those pearls again — diversity, equity, inclusion is just “political window dressing” in order to “wither on the vine” without funding. That’s his plan. The governor hopes to put before the legislature a bill that would strip public colleges and universities funding for DEI and CRT programs. Later in a statement, the governor’s office characterize these initiatives as discriminatory and divisive. That’s bull. Why Governor, if I didn’t know better, I might think that you and other white Floridians have guilty consciences and perhaps a lot to atone for. And so you want to turn the page, naturally.
Instead, you might want to look down the road and into the future. By 2042, whites are expected to become a statistical minority in the United States. It wouldn’t hurt for whites to study up on people who don’t look like them. Florida is going to experience this phenomenon way before that. In 2020, whites made up just 51.5% of the state’s population. The U.S. Census predicts this figure will dip below 50% in the next few years. You know who already knows this? White people and slimy politicians like DeSantis, who wants the votes of those white people. And he’s not the only one.
In March, the bill DeSantis backs, HB-999. advanced in the state House of Representatives by being voted out of the House Post-Secondary Education and Workforce subcommittee. Now it’s on to the state senate and possibly eventually to DeSantis’ desk for his signature. This whole campaign against DEI is just silly and pointless. Even if those programs on colleges and university campuses go down in flames, nothing is going to change. Well, I mean except Florida’s demographics, that’s definitely going to change. And there’s nothing that DeSantis and other Republicans can do to alter that reality. They should just learn to accept it. Or don’t. Whatever. It doesn’t matter.
-
US college protests test First Amendment limits
Protests against Israel’s alleged genocide in Gaza have spread across university campuses around the globe. While most protests initially coalesced around anti-genocide sentiments and a shared value for human life, some critics have observed slogans, rhetoric and behavior that they claim has become more alarming over time. Accusations have surfaced of “outside agitators” deliberately spoiling…
-
Arizona bill legalizing shooting migrants is part of GOP brand
In February 2024, Arizona Republicans proposed a bill that would have permitted property owners to murder anyone accused of trespassing on their property. Although the bill did not explicitly mention immigrants, Arizona State Rep. Justin Heap (R) stated in a hearing that the bill aimed to address a perceived loophole through which migrants have moved…
-
Republicans unraveling before our very eyes
In less than a year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has filed two motions to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Her latest motion came after she and other staunch conservative U.S. representatives expressed outrage with Johnson’s management of a $95 billion international defense bill and a $1.2 trillion federal funding bill, which were both…
-
Trump supporters want to be victims of anti-white racism
The racial anxieties of conservative white Americans are certainly nothing new to U.S. history, but in recent years observers have warned of a range of factors that may be radicalizing right-leaning Americans into political violence and extremism. Donald Trump, in particular, often receives credit for normalizing this extremism for a new generation of Americans. Straight…
-
Texas is Hispanic, and that’s not going to change
Hispanic people now make up the largest ethnic group in Texas, according to the latest U.S. census data, and almost half of all minors in the state are Hispanic or Latino. This data feeds the fears of some right-wing Americans who believe in the “great replacement” theory. The theory states that non-white populations are displacing…
Latest Opinions
-
30% of world’s power now comes from renewables, fossil fuels set to decline
-
Red Lobster shutters 48 stores across 27 states amid uncertain future
-
Russia may disregard international law, environment to get Antarctica's oil
-
Pro-Palestinian protesters agree to end encampment at Harvard
-
US to force Chinese company near nuke arsenal in Wyoming to sell its land
Popular Opinions
-
In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum.