I once wrote the alternative to DEI was the return of racism, bigotry, and segregation. That comment is not 100 percent accurate. It is inaccurate because I don’t think racism and bigotry never really left us and segregation has always been the goal of the White Christian Nationalists. Republicans have tried to make us feel DEI is no longer needed because we have moved on from Racism and Bigotry. They will try and tell you that DEI today is reverse discrimination. They will tell you it forces unqualified minorities to be hired and promoted ahead of White People. If we had a wall with all the pictures of the Presidents on it, bigotry is what you would see in America. You will see 45 White guys and one African American, no Hispanics, no Asians, and no Women. You would look at that wall and know that equity is not a part of the American story. In fact, that story is very much about inequity.

Why do we need a Black History Month? Isn’t Black History part of American History? It should be but without Black History Month people wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn more about Black History. In the 50s and the 60s, it sure wasn’t taught to us. We were taught about our manifest destiny instead of the fact that our manifest destiny was causing the genocide of entire cultures. The South and the Civil War were glamorized. We were taught about the carpet baggers who supposedly invaded the South after the war creating more hardships for the South. Most of what we learned about the Civil War when I was young was from the movies. Movies like “Gone With The Wind” made it look like the South were the victims and the North were the villains.  Too many people believe what they see in the movies is history. I remember hearing the Civil War was fought so the South could preserve their way of life. I remember hearing the South was fighting for its economic system. Their way of life and their economic system were based on slavery, the owning of another human being. It took a war to free black people but did they get real freedom? Can a minority, any minority be really free when we have so much racism and bigotry? That is the question.  If there wasn’t so much racism and bigotry, we would not have needed DEI in the first place.

I have always believed it is our diversity that has always been our strength. Every new culture that has come to this country has added to the great diversity that is America. We see much of that diversity when we eat. Just look at the different types of restaurants we have in this country. Look at all the different cultural celebrations. Unless we are Native American, we are all immigrants that have added to the diversity. To say we are not a diverse nation is an insult to all of those immigrants who came and helped build this great nation.  Bigoted billionaires are not the ones who built this country. This country was built by the sweat and the labor of immigrants who came to America yearning for a seat at the table. Bigoted billionaires have not been the ones who defended our country either. In a lot of cases, it has been those same immigrants and the descendants of those immigrants who answered the call. We now have a man that I call “Commander and Chief Bones Spurs” who is in charge of our military. Donald Trump in the 60s received multiple deferments because of bone spurs. He has painted himself as some tough warrior but when it came time to stand up and be counted, he got a doctor to say he had bone spurs. I think that is a slap face of every person who has ever worn a uniform.

The purging of DEI has done a great disservice to those who have served this nation and have not gotten a medical deferment for bone spurs. Links to ethnic groups have now been removed from the Arlington National Cemetery website. In the Notable Graves Section of the Arlington National Cemetery Website, the links to African American History, Hispanic-American History, and Women’s History have been removed. In the Education section of the Arlington National Cemetery Website, the links from the Themes drop-down menu to, African American History, Civil War, Environment at ANC, Medal of Honor, Service Branches, and Women’s History have been removed. Also removed from the Website are the links to the Freedman’s Village and Section 27 in the History of Arlington National Cemetery subsection. These are people who have served our country and their service should not be hidden away because of a man who had refused to serve. This shows the blatant Racism and Bigotry of the Republican Party and the Trump administration.  

The DEI purge has led to the deletion of two Congressional Medal of Horror recipients from the Department of Defense Website. PFC Harold Gonsalves a Portuguese American and Lt. Col, Charles C Rogers. They have both now been restored after much public criticism but the fact they were targeted as DEI recipients in the first place is a crime. It has always been our diversity that has been our strength, not our weakness especially in the military. You have to trust the person next to you no matter what color, religion, or sexual orientation they are. To think otherwise just weakens our nation in the same way the Trump Administration is weakening our nation right now. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion make us a stronger nation than racism and bigotry ever have

Earning something based on merit is great but if you look at the Trump cabinet most of them are not there on merit. There sure as hell are a lot more qualified people than Peter Hegseth who should be our Secretary of Defense. And then there is Tulsi Gabbard, there is a ton of more qualified people to lead the Intelligence Department. The fact that Robert Kennedy Jr. is the head of the Department of Health and Human Services is a complete joke. If you look at most of Trump's appointments they are favors or just plain nepotism. I would rather have DEI than the racism, bigotry, and nepotism we have now. I would rather have qualified minorities than what we have now.