Does that mean I don't want diversity and equality in hiring at my work? Goodness no. But me, Jessica Elsener, got my job due to my hard work in school, my hard work as an intern, and my other qualifications.
In the Focus Group podcast, by former conservative Sarah Longwell,is pretty amazing. While it can be painful from time to time to hear negative things from people, I think it can be extremely illuminating. On a recent episode where participants discussed DEI, many of the loudest opponents were Black people. The interesting thing, no one seemed to be against the idea of diversity and being inclusive in hiring. Most responses talked about either not wanting qualified jobs taken away from people for the sake of diversity (a bugaboo that some talk about happening, but I'm not sure hie often it actually happens in practice). Or the respondents mentioned not wanting to be accused of having got their position unfairly, over someone more deserved.
Now, we can know as rational people, that due to the history of racial injustice, and lack of polices to make sure states couldn't discriminate due to race.
But, there's something about "affirmative action" that certain conservatives have never forgiven. You see the way people frame learning American history being "woke" because myths and untruths about Columbus and the founding of this country started to get erased. A certain segment wished the other side had won the Civil War, those types exist. But the myth of the "inequality of affirmative action" has had a conservative blowback that you make a straight line to the current DEI gripes.
I think there's no perfect program, there's no perfect way to combat racism or inequality. People are fallible, people make policies, policies are imperfect. Affirmative action wasn't perfect, DEI policies aren't either. But they aren't evil.
Getting us marginalized folks to fight while the rich do what they want, is not a novel or innovative strategy. But it's effective. As a Trans person, I don't want to get hired for that reason. All of a sudden, all my hard work, my struggle, my worth as a worker, all of a sudden are undermined because "I just got hired because they needed to fill a trans quota".
I don't think anyone wants that. Which is where the pushback coming from Black people in this focus group. It's not DEI, it's being perceived as getting a job you don't deserve.
So we can all agree, this purposed situation is bad. But is it happening for real? From what I've read, the biggest issue with DEI programs was they didn't achieve much DEI success, because executives didn't follow their own policies. Like you pointed out, adding alot of these policies were not mandatory, the6 were financial choices. Nothing more. All the companies rejoicing the "death" of DEI, these were the people who crafted alot of this crap because they thought it would make their companies more appealing.
We Trans people didn't ask everyone to stuff pronouns in every email and zoom, for example. The CEOs and companies chose alot of this, without asking Black people, or Queer people, or Hispanic people, so did Democrats, in such a hurry to appear accepting, they didn't bother to meet others where they were at. Right or wrong, it took decades for Gay marriage Rights. You know what I think did it. Decades of getting to know openly gay people. Trans issues need time, there will always be bigots, but there's people we can reach, like you say in the article. Course corrections happen.
Which full circle, brongs us to the irony of my initial statement, I know my skin can play a factor in my getting preference even if my Transness doesn't, and I don't want it too, but it often does. But until it doesn't, for real, we'll need things like DEI, just worded differently. I think alot of backlash is conservatives realizing DEI has been happening, but it's for unqualified people like Hegseth that really reap the awards. Sorry for this novel sized comment. Ohio is fortunate to have you, Ray.
Jessica this is brilliant, so good I would like to run it verbatim as either my column in the Dayton daily news in a week or two or this newsletter, crediting you of course. Would you be ok with that?
Nicely done, Ray - am hearing that the move at the DOJ was precipitated by - or at least following closely after - a superseding indictment against Adams re destruction of evidence had been filed. I would expect this story to continue … especially in light of the wording used in the pushback/resignation letters.
Re DEI - it’s unfortunate that the people decrying it have little idea what those initiatives are. Instead, those seem to believe it’s about giving preferential treatment in a zero-sum game, leaving folks (like Jess) concerned that their genuine achievements will be written off as undeserved when, in fact, there is a far greater likelihood that the opposite is true. Navigating dominant culture spaces as an identifiably non-dominant person generally takes greater expertise and demonstrated ability than those spaces require of those from the culture the space was built around and for.
I don't want to be thought of as a DEI hire.
Does that mean I don't want diversity and equality in hiring at my work? Goodness no. But me, Jessica Elsener, got my job due to my hard work in school, my hard work as an intern, and my other qualifications.
In the Focus Group podcast, by former conservative Sarah Longwell,is pretty amazing. While it can be painful from time to time to hear negative things from people, I think it can be extremely illuminating. On a recent episode where participants discussed DEI, many of the loudest opponents were Black people. The interesting thing, no one seemed to be against the idea of diversity and being inclusive in hiring. Most responses talked about either not wanting qualified jobs taken away from people for the sake of diversity (a bugaboo that some talk about happening, but I'm not sure hie often it actually happens in practice). Or the respondents mentioned not wanting to be accused of having got their position unfairly, over someone more deserved.
Now, we can know as rational people, that due to the history of racial injustice, and lack of polices to make sure states couldn't discriminate due to race.
But, there's something about "affirmative action" that certain conservatives have never forgiven. You see the way people frame learning American history being "woke" because myths and untruths about Columbus and the founding of this country started to get erased. A certain segment wished the other side had won the Civil War, those types exist. But the myth of the "inequality of affirmative action" has had a conservative blowback that you make a straight line to the current DEI gripes.
I think there's no perfect program, there's no perfect way to combat racism or inequality. People are fallible, people make policies, policies are imperfect. Affirmative action wasn't perfect, DEI policies aren't either. But they aren't evil.
Getting us marginalized folks to fight while the rich do what they want, is not a novel or innovative strategy. But it's effective. As a Trans person, I don't want to get hired for that reason. All of a sudden, all my hard work, my struggle, my worth as a worker, all of a sudden are undermined because "I just got hired because they needed to fill a trans quota".
I don't think anyone wants that. Which is where the pushback coming from Black people in this focus group. It's not DEI, it's being perceived as getting a job you don't deserve.
So we can all agree, this purposed situation is bad. But is it happening for real? From what I've read, the biggest issue with DEI programs was they didn't achieve much DEI success, because executives didn't follow their own policies. Like you pointed out, adding alot of these policies were not mandatory, the6 were financial choices. Nothing more. All the companies rejoicing the "death" of DEI, these were the people who crafted alot of this crap because they thought it would make their companies more appealing.
We Trans people didn't ask everyone to stuff pronouns in every email and zoom, for example. The CEOs and companies chose alot of this, without asking Black people, or Queer people, or Hispanic people, so did Democrats, in such a hurry to appear accepting, they didn't bother to meet others where they were at. Right or wrong, it took decades for Gay marriage Rights. You know what I think did it. Decades of getting to know openly gay people. Trans issues need time, there will always be bigots, but there's people we can reach, like you say in the article. Course corrections happen.
Which full circle, brongs us to the irony of my initial statement, I know my skin can play a factor in my getting preference even if my Transness doesn't, and I don't want it too, but it often does. But until it doesn't, for real, we'll need things like DEI, just worded differently. I think alot of backlash is conservatives realizing DEI has been happening, but it's for unqualified people like Hegseth that really reap the awards. Sorry for this novel sized comment. Ohio is fortunate to have you, Ray.
Jessica this is brilliant, so good I would like to run it verbatim as either my column in the Dayton daily news in a week or two or this newsletter, crediting you of course. Would you be ok with that?
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All four great, I cannot rate any one the greatest?
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Nicely done, Ray - am hearing that the move at the DOJ was precipitated by - or at least following closely after - a superseding indictment against Adams re destruction of evidence had been filed. I would expect this story to continue … especially in light of the wording used in the pushback/resignation letters.
Re DEI - it’s unfortunate that the people decrying it have little idea what those initiatives are. Instead, those seem to believe it’s about giving preferential treatment in a zero-sum game, leaving folks (like Jess) concerned that their genuine achievements will be written off as undeserved when, in fact, there is a far greater likelihood that the opposite is true. Navigating dominant culture spaces as an identifiably non-dominant person generally takes greater expertise and demonstrated ability than those spaces require of those from the culture the space was built around and for.
Very well put. Thank you
Ha! It’s basically a bullet point from several of my presentations to the law community
Great column. Yes, we are seeing the politicization of DOJ in real time. It's how tyrants operate.
Unfortunately, the "Injustice" (politicization of DOJ ), is not new
May not be new --- I mentioned that --- but still wrong