DEI
I overhead a conversation between two young men on the same day of the 2024 Presidential Election. And it was regarding a paper they had to write on DEI for a journalism class. This stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. I couldn’t put this together, however, so I inquired of the two. (Side note - I am a very curious individual and as an introvert. I have no problem sitting quietly and listening to other people’s conversations. Just a PSA - public service announcement).
Anyway, they tried to explain the purpose of the assignment and did a horrible job. They really wanted to say “because the teacher told me to write this paper” but that wasn’t really the answer to my question. They wanted to change the subject (one of the two of them confided to me later that he was glad that I didn’t see the point in the assignment either) and move on.
A few minutes ago, I heard someone on one of the “news” shows (let’s be honest, the big cable news shows aren’t really news any more but opinion shows), lament that with the election results there are only going to be two black women in Congress when the elected take their place. I started wondering whether that was a good thing or a bad thing realizing the speaker considered it a bad thing. You see in both these examples, people are trying to look at the outcome and extrapolate whether there is a problem in the process. As in, if all things were equal, there would be the same proportion of black women in Congress as black women in the general population. It’s that first qualifier that’ll get you every time.
Here’s a personal example. The company I retired from had a bonus program. At one point each employee had a goal that was approved by the person’s management and the manager’s brass that determined how much bonus the employee was eligible to get (simplified example for discussion). Anyway, at the end of the quarter, my boss, the CFO came to me and told me that my employee’s goals must be too easy because the distribution of results wasn’t reflective of the normal curve (also called the bell curve).
I reminded him, politely, that he had approved those goals and had the opportunity to weigh in on whether they were too easy. He again responded that the distribution of results didn’t match a normal curve so something must be wrong. I finally communicated that the goals were a motivating source for whatever they were because there was a reward involved (that’s why Pastor Patrick suggests you follow along with your Bible during the sermon to encourage you to bring them and use them). My CFO still didn’t like my answer and we agreed to take a closer look for the next quarterly goal setting opportunity.
My point is that there are a variety of factors that individuals use to decide whether to do something or not. Just because the outcomes aren’t equal, doesn’t mean there is a problem that needs to be fixed. Differences in outcomes are ok as long as the process doesn’t discriminate against people getting there. That’s why there are rules that must be followed.
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” - 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 ESV
“We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity. When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.’” For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” - Psalm 75:1-7
I content that whether I’m looking for an auto mechanic or a surgeon, I want the best expert I can afford. I could care less what their color or gender is because at that point I need their skill. The last thing I want is a surgeon who is operating because they needed to expand a race component or a gender component without finding the best person to do the job.
