March 12, 2025 • 33 mins
On this episode of Inside The Margins, we cover the controversial topic of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion also known as DEI. We talk about what it is, how it started, and who it impacts.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Marginalized groups can be the target of negative beliefs, behaviors,
or judgments from others. On this show, we seek out
marginalized voices and perspectives and tackle some of the conflicts
and issues these groups face. Now is the time to
have your voice heard. This is Inside the Margins.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, hello, and welcome to Inside the Margins. I'm Matt Wilson.
Thank you for joining me for another episode. And I
don't know if everyone knows, but March is the month
where we celebrate women and women's accomplishments. And also this
past Saturday was International Women's Day. So usually that's a
joyous event and everyone kind of celebrates and honors women,
(00:46):
and those kind of events still did happen throughout the country,
but this time around International Women's Day did have kind
of a different vibe. So this past Saturday, which did
mark International Women's Day, a bunch of demonstrators gathered in
cities worldwide to call out ongoing attacks on women's rights,
LGBTQ rights, and also more rights other than that. CBS
(01:11):
News Paul Burton was at one of the protests and
this is what he reported back.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
The rally was made up of several organizations who voice
their concerns about women's rights, healthcare, immigration, black lives matter
in the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Our experiences have afforded us empathy, empathy that we can
share with our trans sisters, with our migrant sisters.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Many of the comments and criticisms were aimed at President
Donald Trump's policies in Elon musk protesters stopping by the
testa store.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So again, there is a lot of call because there
seems to be a war on DEI. So what is DEI. Well,
DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion and DEI is
now become a catchphrase and a lot of people do
not like DEI and are trying to call an end
(02:09):
to that. So here's an example. Trump, President Trump, our
president right now, has aimed to unravel the work that
DEI has kind of accomplished over the last few years. So,
according to the White House's website, President Trump's administration states,
on January twentieth, twenty twenty five, the Biden administration forced
(02:30):
illegal in moral discrimination programs going by the name Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion into virtually all aspects of the federal
government and areas ranging from airline safety to the military.
This was a concerted effort stemming from President Biden's first
day in office, when he issued Executive Order one three
nine eight five advancing racial equity and support for Underserved
(02:53):
Communities through the federal government. The White House's website goes
on to say that the Trump Administry plans to terminate,
to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEIDIA and
Environmental Justice officers and positions, including but not limited to,
the Chief Diversity Officer positions, all equity action plans, equity
(03:16):
actions initiatives or programs, equity related grants or contracts, and
all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or guarantees.
At its first Joint address to the Congress, not that
long ago, the presidents touted his executive action taken to
do away with all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at
(03:40):
the federal level. So this is President Trump at his
joint address.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
We believe that whether you are a doctor, an accountant,
a lawyer, or an air traffic controller, you should be
hired and promoted based on skill and competence, not race
or gender.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Very important, So again, the Trump administration and the people
who follow that administration believe that DEI was the reason
why people who were more qualified did not get jobs
in some of those related fields, and this is why
he is pushing to end DEI. In fact, going a
(04:22):
little deeper, there was a new lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania
and it's taking aim at LGBTQ anti discrimination laws in
this state. So we get a little bit more from
Fox's Tanya J. Powers, who has a story on that lawsuit.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
The suit filed Thursday and Commonwealth court pits two public
school districts, several parents, and two Republican state lawmakers against
Pennsylvania Democratic Governor johsh Shapiro and the state Human Resources Commission.
The districts and parents want a two year old regulation
that provides anti discrimination protections for gay and transgender people
tossed out, saying that it's illegal because it goes back
(05:00):
beyond what lawmakers intended or allowed. If it's successful, the
Commission would no longer be able to investigate complaints about
discrimination involving sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, and
could bar transgender student athletes from competing in women's high
school sports in the States. Tanya J. Powers Fox News, So.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Again, there seems to be it seems to be trending
that DEI is a bad thing and must be removed
because DEI is the reason for all these instances and
where people are getting taken advantage of, people aren't getting
the job to deserve, and women are and men are
competing in women's sports. That is what the viewpoint of
many is of DEI. So let's call a little deeper.
(05:42):
What actually is DEI, What actually does that mean? What
is it? And who does it impact? In the United States? Diversity, equity,
and inclusion Again, DEI our organizational frameworks that seek to
promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people,
(06:04):
particularly groups who have been historically underrepresented, and subjetitute discrimination
based on identity or disability. These three notions, diversity, equity,
and inclusion together represent three closely linked values which organizations
seek to institutionalize through DEI frameworks. Okay, and these concepts
(06:24):
predate this terminology and other variations sometimes include terms such
as belonging, justice, and accessibility. So the word diversity, which
I'm sure many of you have heard before, diversity refers
to the presence of variety within the organizational workforce and
characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, class,
(06:50):
veteran status, or religion. Let me say that one more time,
just so you understand that it goes beyond just LGBTQ
and the color of your skin. Diversity refers to the
presence of variety within the organizational workforce in character exists
in characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, class,
(07:21):
veteran status, or religion. Okay. Now, the word equity. Equity
refers to concepts of fairness and justice such as fair
compensation and also equality okay and more specifically, sorry, and
more specifically equity usually also includes a focus on societal
(07:43):
disparities and allocating resources and decision making authority to groups
that have historically have been disadvantaged and taking into consideration
a person's unique circumstances, adjusting treatment a quarterly so that
the end result is equal. And the last word inclusion. Now,
that refers to creating an organizational culture that creates an
(08:05):
experience where all employees feel that their voices are being
heard and a sense of belonging and integration. So that
is what DEI stands for, Diversity, equity, inclusion. Right, So
when you go into a building or a place of work,
you see representation of you, right, and also inclusion. Right.
(08:30):
You want to feel like you matter, your voice is
being heard, and people actually respect the fact that you're here,
respect your thoughts and opinions. Okay. Now, DI has had
a much earlier start that many people even realize. So
the first kind of recorded instance of DEI goes back
(08:51):
to the veterans of the Civil War and their widows
in eighteen sixty five. In eighteen seventy six, this was
a minute to give preference to veterans during a reduction
force and also we keep going. In nineteen twenty one
and twenty nine, executive orders by President's Coolidge and Harding
established ten point preference for veterans towards exams and hiring
(09:13):
criteria for federal employment. In nineteen forty four, the Veterans
Preference Act that was kind of codified the previous executive
or the previous executive orders clarified criteria and included special
hiring provisions for disabled veterans. And then there were some
later amendments added for like World War two. Also some
(09:37):
special provisions for the mothers of disabled or deceased veterans
and job specific trading for veterans, also including the federal
and private workforce. So why am I saying all this
with opinions somewhat divided on the issue of diversity and
equity and inclusion and became a very touchy subject, especially
(10:02):
in recent times. DEI has been either loved or hated.
It's almost never been in the middle, right, But there
is there is a proven business case for investing in
DEI initiatives. So I work in higher education and allow
the information I'm going to share with you does kind
of go belong in that grouping and higher ed. So
(10:24):
I'm going to share with you some stats that show
the benefits of DEI. So we're gonna do it in
a minute. But before we do that, let's go ahead
and take a break. You are listening to Inside the Margins.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You're listening to Inside the Margins on one hundred point
nine WXR, Rochester's urban alternative station.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Were tuned to Rochester's at an all timeative radio station
one hundred point nine as are extreme independent ratio.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Welcome back to Inside the Margins. Matt Wilson here. So
we were talking about diversity, equity, inclusion, and also what
it means the war against diversity equity inclusion also known
as DEI. The reason is why there's a war against
DEI and also what the actual term d actually means
(11:27):
and how it's been used to help benefit not just
those of color and those of LGBTQ or LGBTQ persuasion,
but also folks who are disabled, also folks who are
military or veteran status, also folks that fall under different
branches because of their poverty level or what they make.
(11:52):
Pretty much, it covers anyone who would be quote unquote
marginalized or underrepresented. So that was the whole purpose of
diversity equity inclusion and when it was kind of brought
to the forefront back in the Civil War era. So
we'll go back to what Donald Trump has done since
(12:14):
and his administration has done since he's been in office
for the second time. So he signed multiple executive orders
attacking diversity efforts, and the first couple of days of
a second term, so he did one declaring that college
DEI policies and programs could amount to violations of federal
civil rights laws. The actually the actions also prompted federal
(12:40):
agencies to identify organizations, including colleges with endowments over one
billion dollars for potential civil compliance investigations. Another executive order
that Trump directed, he directed agencies to end all DEI
programs and positions under whatever name they appear. It further
(13:01):
soughts to terminate federal equity related grants and contracts, endangering
massive swaths of college research funding. Trump's orders have insided
confusion among higher education leaders and sparked legal challenges. However,
colleges and states across the political spectrum have been cutting
DEI programs. So some colleges are standing firm with their
(13:25):
DEI practices, but some colleges and also other organizations in
the workplace have kind of cut back or have removed
DEI as a whole because they do not want to
lose the funding that they use from the government to
you know, pay for programming and also other things at
the colleges or their workplace. So again I mentioned earlier
(13:47):
that opinions are kind of divided on this issue. Again,
people tend to either really really stand behind DEI and
realize some of the benefits that it's had, some people
hate it and think it's been the reason why there's
been a downfall and the equality of work. So what
(14:08):
are the facts? Are either one of those right and
somewhere in the middle. Let's take a look. So I
reference Culture AMPS twenty twenty four Workplace DEI Report, and
here are the stats that they have gathered in their research. So,
first off, companies that hire DEI consultants scored eight percent
(14:30):
higher on building teams that are diverse. Right, So having
diverse teams had better scoring. Employees who strongly believe in
the company values diversity. So get me say that one
more time. Employees who strongly believe that the company values
diversity are eighty four percent more engaged, while those who
(14:52):
don't are twenty percent engaged. So again, people who actually
believe that the company is doing their best and actually
values diversity, they're more They're eighty four percent engaged. Well,
the people who do not, who do not believe that
the company cares about diversity, they're twenty percent engaged. Okay,
(15:16):
And overall, companies that value diversity have a six point
eight percent higher stock price than those who don't. So again,
this is really a hard thing to measure. It's a
kind of challenging to determine the exact percentages of federal
DEI funding allocantic groups of students broken down my rights
and ethnicity because I work, again, I work in higher education,
(15:37):
and there's a lot of different programs that I kind
of do float funding for clubs, for programs, for scholarships,
for initiatives, and that's just our college. And it's hard
for me who works there to figure out where all
this where everything's being allocated to. So it's kind of
hard to get these numbers. But we're gonna broadly speak here.
So I am a person who believes in journalism. I
(15:58):
was a journalism major and the college that I attended,
and I've always believed that good journalism is good for
democracy and it's necessary for it. In times where journalism
was stifled or kind of told not to be, you know,
the journalists were told not to report on certain things,
and then we're talking about like Hitler Times, stuff like that,
where the leadership kind of controlled what the word was
(16:22):
being put out because they did not want the truth out.
They just wanted to put out whatever their their message
was to get a blind following. That usually happens when
you don't have journalism. Here's the facts, So I'm speaking
broadly a large majority of people, so a whole big
portion of people within most racial and ethnic groups do
(16:44):
receive some kind of federal funding, some of which is
connected to DEI programs. So that includes tell, okay, check
this out, eighty one percent of black students, seventy four percent,
seventy four percent of a mirror an Indian or Alaskan
Native students, seventy two percent of Hispanic or Latino students.
(17:07):
And here's the big one, seventy percent of white students
and sixty six percent of age students, according to a
twenty twenty three report from the National Center of Education
Statistics based on data during the twenty eighteen and twenty
twenty academic year. So if you notice, every single percent
(17:28):
that I read off is higher than fifty percent, which
means most of these groups had some sort of federal
funding that was tied to DEI. So again, like I said,
getting the records accurately is a little tough, and the
centators that didn't actually indicate whether these grants were explicitly
(17:51):
designated for DEI initiatives. For example, PEL grants are need
based but not really explicitly DEI. So I just I
make sure that we're clear on that that some of
these fundings that were used Ford initiatives weren't actually part
of a DEI program anyways. That being said, DEI initiatives
(18:12):
doing compass a broad range of programs that support various
unrepresented groups, including first generation college students. So what is
a first generation student? So a first generation student are
students or students whose parents did not graduate from college.
(18:33):
All right, And here's the thing. When we're talking about
first gen students, this includes a lot of whites, right,
so if you are a person of if you were
a white person, a lot of are. In fact, most
of the college students who attend college our first gen students. Again, also,
(18:55):
we're going to get into it. These these de initiatives
also benefit women and veterans. And again I am also
a veteran, so that also, you know, impacts me. I'm
a person of color and a veteran. So so national
data shows that fifty six percent of college students are
first generation students. And here's the kicker. White students represent
(19:22):
forty six percent of that group, and that's more than
any other single race. So the majority of students who
identify as white students. I'm sorry, miss Elm, We're tied.
The majority of students who identify as first generation students
(19:44):
are white, so let's break it down like entirely. Honestly,
people with disabilities make up the largest minority group in
America and they represent a growing share of college students.
So the majority of people who get DEI help are
in the disability or disabled population. Now, I hate using
(20:07):
the word disability because there's a whole disabilities or disabled
covers a whole ground of people and what they're dealing with,
but it is actually very overlooked when it comes to DEI.
With twenty point five percent of undergraduate students reporting a disability.
Many institutions addressed this through disability services, which im sure
(20:31):
students receive such appropriate testing combinations like you know, extended
exam times or classroom support or extra access to assistive technology.
For example, in one of my classes, I have a
student who was hearing impaired, and we have people set
(20:52):
up to kind of do the sign language so she
can understand what I am teaching in class. Right, She's
not trying to read my lips to understands the sil
thingguage much better and that helps her out and I
think that's important. I think it helps her succeed in
my class, and she's been doing very well with that.
(21:14):
Again I mentioned earlier. DEI programs also target women and veterans.
Now'll check this out. Women make up more than half
of COW students, and they promote equity in male dominant
fields also such as science, technology, engineering, and math, and
leadership roles in government, academia, and the private the private sector,
(21:38):
so veterans is a whole different thing. DII programs provide
tailored resources like academic support, mental health services, and career
transition assistants that recognize the unique challenges that some veterans
face and higher education. So a lot of people don't
realize that someone who has served in the military and
(22:01):
then comes to college is usually in a completely different
situation than your typical student who graduates high school and
goes directly to college. Right, your typical high school student
who graduates from high school and goes to college, they're
usually between the ages of seventeen and eighteen years old
for their first year of college. Now, if you have
(22:24):
ever served in the military, or you know one who
has served in the military, you already know that the
majority that the least amount of time you can spend
in the military unless you're injured or something else happens,
is four years, right, and usually that's followed by a
year of reserves. So if you join the military, you
(22:44):
usually do four years of whatever branch you're in, plus
one year reserves after that. So usually about a five
year period is what you are giving to service. And
some obviously serve longer than that. Some people say for
ten years. Some people retire. So a lot of students
who served in the military, they're coming in at a
(23:06):
much older age, right, So if you take eighteen and
you add four years to that, right, and then and
then there's that fifth year that reserve, you still can
come to the military and the reserves because you don't
have to do the weekends and stuff. Right, But you're
looking at someone who's twenty two years old or older,
usually if they have served prior to going to college.
(23:28):
A lot of people come in after ten years of service,
fifteen years of service. They are full adults who have families,
they're married with children, and they're starting college for the
first time. Now, if you've never been into a if
you have not really been into an academic field, or
stayed in like a high school into college mindset after
(23:49):
serving in the military, and let's say you're a combat
veteran too, so you were put into some very situations
that are very stressful, take a lot on of you.
You've seen some things that people have not served will
never see. You've seen people get hurt, you've seen people
get shot, you've seen people die. So when you come
(24:14):
to college and you're trying to transition from military life
to civilian life, that can be difficult. So DEI programs
help with that. They help with the sometimes the academia
area where you know, you never went to college, or
(24:36):
you maybe weren't the best person in high school. Not
the best person, but you've weren't the best student in
high school, let me say that. So now you have
to try to catch up and get your your mindset
ready for college and get yourself back at a level
in college where you could succeed. De programs help with
the system with that. Some people have some mental or
(25:00):
in general from their experience in the military, right, DII
programs help you deal with that. So AGAINDI is so
much people believe that DI is just a race or
just sex or gender. So much that they forget about
(25:21):
our veterans, that they forget about our disabled, that they
forget about our women. These programs help all these folks too,
and not even that that help our first generation students
who are predominantly white. So this DEI is not just
(25:43):
helping people of color and people who are part of
the LGBTQ community. DEI actually is helping everyone. And that's
why I think it's important to recognize that maybe not
cut everything INDI, but if you have issues with it,
maybe mix changes to try to fix some things. But
just getting rid of it actually hurts everyone. It hurts everyone,
(26:12):
and that's kind of the reason why I want to
bring this to your attention. All right, we are going
to take a break and we come back. We will
conclude Inside the Margins. You're listening to Inside the Margins
on one hundred point nine w XR extreme independent Radio
in Rochester's urban alternative station.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Do you have a topic that you would like discussed
on Inside the Margins.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
We would love to hear from you. Please send your thoughts, comments,
more questions to Inside Margins at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Thanks so much, Welcome back to Inside the Margins, and yes,
make sure you listen to that last verbiage right there.
I always want to hear the stories that you're most
interested in, and we can always try to incorporate stories
are inside the margins. So you want to hear from you.
You got any suggestions of what we should talk about,
(27:07):
You have any comments on the things that we have
talked about, you have any suggestions for me or the
show in general, just email us at inside Margins at
gmail dot Just go ahead and send us an email
inside Margins at gmail dot com. Again, that's inside Margins
at gmail dot com. All right, So again we've been
(27:30):
talking about the war on DEI, what DEI is, who
it's impacted in, how it's helped people. Now, don't get
me wrong, nothing's perfect. I'm not even saying DEI is perfect.
There are some things that DEI was doing that I
even don't agree with. But here's the thing. I had
a friend say this to me once. If the tires
(27:54):
on your car are bald, do you throw out the
entire car? No, If the tires on your car are bald,
you get new tires. You don't say this car is
not working. So let's just get rid of the whole thing.
And that's what the issue is here. DEI has been
(28:16):
a benefit for many people, having a sense of self,
having diverse work groups, feeling included. Those are good things.
There's never been a part of my life where the
word diversity was actually considered bad. I cannot remember a
(28:39):
time in my recent life that when you said, man,
this is a diverse crowd, people thought that that was
a bad thing to say, because diversity is not bad.
Inclusion is not bad, right, But somehow we have maitte
that bad in our language now because of the fact
that people believe, they truly believe that DEI has stopped
(29:03):
people from getting the jobs they deserved because people are
trying to fulfill some sort of quota, so they intentionally
hire people of color, of people of a certain sexuality
or gender just because they need to have that so
they can show diversity instead of hiring people that are
actually qualified for the job. When actuality, what happens is
instead of people being left out right, a person of
(29:26):
color or a woman or someone of a different sexuality
was as qualified or more qualified, used to not get
the job because of that, because of their diversity, because
of their background, because of the fact that they were
a person of color, or because if they were a woman,
because they were disabled, or because that they were older. Right,
people would sometimes not give them the job. It's because
(29:47):
they thought that because their their race, their color, their age,
their sexuality would do something to hinder their performance. And
that's why DEI was invented, really to help those who
have been discriminated against, not to discriminate against discriminators. Right. So,
(30:10):
like I said, we've been cutting a lot of funding veterans.
The Veterans Outreach Center has cut a lot of stuff.
A lot of veteran programming has been cut. So the
help that veterans desperately need to get their self started
and situated in higher education, a lot of those support
systems have been removed for them. Right. Some of the
(30:32):
groups that people have that celebrate their differences, right, people
have groups where they can join and be around people
like them so they can feel like they belong. The
programming for those groups have been removed. I don't necessarily
certainly think this is a good thing. So it's okay
to have a tennis group, but it's not okay to
(30:53):
have an African drum group. Why not? What harm is
that doing to anybody? And why do you need to
get rid of it. Does the fact that there's an
African drum group is that offend somebody? I don't understand.
I guess I have a hard time understanding this. So
why am I going through all this? Why am I
saying this? Why am I putting this episode out? Because
(31:16):
you know that some people who listen to this are
going to be upset with it because they think that
I'm leading heavily one way or another. But that's not
what we're trying to do here. We're just trying to
put the facts out in front of you. We're just
trying to let you know what DEI actually is, the
history of DEI, and what DEI has done to actually
(31:39):
help people. Like I said earlier, nothing is perfect. A
lot of the programs that we have in place for
a lot of different things are not perfect, but a
lot of them I have the right idea and are
trying to do something positive. So, like I said said,
(32:00):
when you are trying to do the right thing and
there actually has been benefits of what you've been doing,
don't toss out the entire thing. Just make the changes
and make it better. That's how we move forward, and
that's how we keep everybody involved in everyone happy with
these situations. Thank you so much for listening to Inside
(32:23):
the Margins. It's so great to be back on the air,
so great that we're doing these programmers in these educational topics.
Once again, I said it earlier. We love to hear
from you Inside Margins at gmail dot com. That's how
you get a hold of us and tell us your
thoughts on the show. We will be back next week
and we'll be on w XII every week on Tuesday
(32:43):
at six pm. We will see you next week on
Inside the Margins.
Marginalized groups can be the target of negative beliefs, behaviors,
or judgments from others. On this show, we seek out
marginalized voices and perspectives and tackle some of the conflicts
and issues these groups face. Now is the time to
have your voice heard. This is Inside the Margins.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, hello, and welcome to Inside the Margins. I'm Matt Wilson.
Thank you for joining me for another episode. And I
don't know if everyone knows, but March is the month
where we celebrate women and women's accomplishments. And also this
past Saturday was International Women's Day. So usually that's a
joyous event and everyone kind of celebrates and honors women,
(00:46):
and those kind of events still did happen throughout the country,
but this time around International Women's Day did have kind
of a different vibe. So this past Saturday, which did
mark International Women's Day, a bunch of demonstrators gathered in
cities worldwide to call out ongoing attacks on women's rights,
LGBTQ rights, and also more rights other than that. CBS
(01:11):
News Paul Burton was at one of the protests and
this is what he reported back.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
The rally was made up of several organizations who voice
their concerns about women's rights, healthcare, immigration, black lives matter
in the LGBTQ community.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Our experiences have afforded us empathy, empathy that we can
share with our trans sisters, with our migrant sisters.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Many of the comments and criticisms were aimed at President
Donald Trump's policies in Elon musk protesters stopping by the
testa store.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So again, there is a lot of call because there
seems to be a war on DEI. So what is DEI. Well,
DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion and DEI is
now become a catchphrase and a lot of people do
not like DEI and are trying to call an end
(02:09):
to that. So here's an example. Trump, President Trump, our
president right now, has aimed to unravel the work that
DEI has kind of accomplished over the last few years. So,
according to the White House's website, President Trump's administration states,
on January twentieth, twenty twenty five, the Biden administration forced
(02:30):
illegal in moral discrimination programs going by the name Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion into virtually all aspects of the federal
government and areas ranging from airline safety to the military.
This was a concerted effort stemming from President Biden's first
day in office, when he issued Executive Order one three
nine eight five advancing racial equity and support for Underserved
(02:53):
Communities through the federal government. The White House's website goes
on to say that the Trump Administry plans to terminate,
to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEIDIA and
Environmental Justice officers and positions, including but not limited to,
the Chief Diversity Officer positions, all equity action plans, equity
(03:16):
actions initiatives or programs, equity related grants or contracts, and
all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or guarantees.
At its first Joint address to the Congress, not that
long ago, the presidents touted his executive action taken to
do away with all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at
(03:40):
the federal level. So this is President Trump at his
joint address.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
We believe that whether you are a doctor, an accountant,
a lawyer, or an air traffic controller, you should be
hired and promoted based on skill and competence, not race
or gender.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Very important, So again, the Trump administration and the people
who follow that administration believe that DEI was the reason
why people who were more qualified did not get jobs
in some of those related fields, and this is why
he is pushing to end DEI. In fact, going a
(04:22):
little deeper, there was a new lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania
and it's taking aim at LGBTQ anti discrimination laws in
this state. So we get a little bit more from
Fox's Tanya J. Powers, who has a story on that lawsuit.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
The suit filed Thursday and Commonwealth court pits two public
school districts, several parents, and two Republican state lawmakers against
Pennsylvania Democratic Governor johsh Shapiro and the state Human Resources Commission.
The districts and parents want a two year old regulation
that provides anti discrimination protections for gay and transgender people
tossed out, saying that it's illegal because it goes back
(05:00):
beyond what lawmakers intended or allowed. If it's successful, the
Commission would no longer be able to investigate complaints about
discrimination involving sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, and
could bar transgender student athletes from competing in women's high
school sports in the States. Tanya J. Powers Fox News, So.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Again, there seems to be it seems to be trending
that DEI is a bad thing and must be removed
because DEI is the reason for all these instances and
where people are getting taken advantage of, people aren't getting
the job to deserve, and women are and men are
competing in women's sports. That is what the viewpoint of
many is of DEI. So let's call a little deeper.
(05:42):
What actually is DEI, What actually does that mean? What
is it? And who does it impact? In the United States? Diversity, equity,
and inclusion Again, DEI our organizational frameworks that seek to
promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people,
(06:04):
particularly groups who have been historically underrepresented, and subjetitute discrimination
based on identity or disability. These three notions, diversity, equity,
and inclusion together represent three closely linked values which organizations
seek to institutionalize through DEI frameworks. Okay, and these concepts
(06:24):
predate this terminology and other variations sometimes include terms such
as belonging, justice, and accessibility. So the word diversity, which
I'm sure many of you have heard before, diversity refers
to the presence of variety within the organizational workforce and
characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, class,
(06:50):
veteran status, or religion. Let me say that one more time,
just so you understand that it goes beyond just LGBTQ
and the color of your skin. Diversity refers to the
presence of variety within the organizational workforce in character exists
in characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, class,
(07:21):
veteran status, or religion. Okay. Now, the word equity. Equity
refers to concepts of fairness and justice such as fair
compensation and also equality okay and more specifically, sorry, and
more specifically equity usually also includes a focus on societal
(07:43):
disparities and allocating resources and decision making authority to groups
that have historically have been disadvantaged and taking into consideration
a person's unique circumstances, adjusting treatment a quarterly so that
the end result is equal. And the last word inclusion. Now,
that refers to creating an organizational culture that creates an
(08:05):
experience where all employees feel that their voices are being
heard and a sense of belonging and integration. So that
is what DEI stands for, Diversity, equity, inclusion. Right, So
when you go into a building or a place of work,
you see representation of you, right, and also inclusion. Right.
(08:30):
You want to feel like you matter, your voice is
being heard, and people actually respect the fact that you're here,
respect your thoughts and opinions. Okay. Now, DI has had
a much earlier start that many people even realize. So
the first kind of recorded instance of DEI goes back
(08:51):
to the veterans of the Civil War and their widows
in eighteen sixty five. In eighteen seventy six, this was
a minute to give preference to veterans during a reduction
force and also we keep going. In nineteen twenty one
and twenty nine, executive orders by President's Coolidge and Harding
established ten point preference for veterans towards exams and hiring
(09:13):
criteria for federal employment. In nineteen forty four, the Veterans
Preference Act that was kind of codified the previous executive
or the previous executive orders clarified criteria and included special
hiring provisions for disabled veterans. And then there were some
later amendments added for like World War two. Also some
(09:37):
special provisions for the mothers of disabled or deceased veterans
and job specific trading for veterans, also including the federal
and private workforce. So why am I saying all this
with opinions somewhat divided on the issue of diversity and
equity and inclusion and became a very touchy subject, especially
(10:02):
in recent times. DEI has been either loved or hated.
It's almost never been in the middle, right, But there
is there is a proven business case for investing in
DEI initiatives. So I work in higher education and allow
the information I'm going to share with you does kind
of go belong in that grouping and higher ed. So
(10:24):
I'm going to share with you some stats that show
the benefits of DEI. So we're gonna do it in
a minute. But before we do that, let's go ahead
and take a break. You are listening to Inside the Margins.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You're listening to Inside the Margins on one hundred point
nine WXR, Rochester's urban alternative station.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Were tuned to Rochester's at an all timeative radio station
one hundred point nine as are extreme independent ratio.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Welcome back to Inside the Margins. Matt Wilson here. So
we were talking about diversity, equity, inclusion, and also what
it means the war against diversity equity inclusion also known
as DEI. The reason is why there's a war against
DEI and also what the actual term d actually means
(11:27):
and how it's been used to help benefit not just
those of color and those of LGBTQ or LGBTQ persuasion,
but also folks who are disabled, also folks who are
military or veteran status, also folks that fall under different
branches because of their poverty level or what they make.
(11:52):
Pretty much, it covers anyone who would be quote unquote
marginalized or underrepresented. So that was the whole purpose of
diversity equity inclusion and when it was kind of brought
to the forefront back in the Civil War era. So
we'll go back to what Donald Trump has done since
(12:14):
and his administration has done since he's been in office
for the second time. So he signed multiple executive orders
attacking diversity efforts, and the first couple of days of
a second term, so he did one declaring that college
DEI policies and programs could amount to violations of federal
civil rights laws. The actually the actions also prompted federal
(12:40):
agencies to identify organizations, including colleges with endowments over one
billion dollars for potential civil compliance investigations. Another executive order
that Trump directed, he directed agencies to end all DEI
programs and positions under whatever name they appear. It further
(13:01):
soughts to terminate federal equity related grants and contracts, endangering
massive swaths of college research funding. Trump's orders have insided
confusion among higher education leaders and sparked legal challenges. However,
colleges and states across the political spectrum have been cutting
DEI programs. So some colleges are standing firm with their
(13:25):
DEI practices, but some colleges and also other organizations in
the workplace have kind of cut back or have removed
DEI as a whole because they do not want to
lose the funding that they use from the government to
you know, pay for programming and also other things at
the colleges or their workplace. So again I mentioned earlier
(13:47):
that opinions are kind of divided on this issue. Again,
people tend to either really really stand behind DEI and
realize some of the benefits that it's had, some people
hate it and think it's been the reason why there's
been a downfall and the equality of work. So what
(14:08):
are the facts? Are either one of those right and
somewhere in the middle. Let's take a look. So I
reference Culture AMPS twenty twenty four Workplace DEI Report, and
here are the stats that they have gathered in their research. So,
first off, companies that hire DEI consultants scored eight percent
(14:30):
higher on building teams that are diverse. Right, So having
diverse teams had better scoring. Employees who strongly believe in
the company values diversity. So get me say that one
more time. Employees who strongly believe that the company values
diversity are eighty four percent more engaged, while those who
(14:52):
don't are twenty percent engaged. So again, people who actually
believe that the company is doing their best and actually
values diversity, they're more They're eighty four percent engaged. Well,
the people who do not, who do not believe that
the company cares about diversity, they're twenty percent engaged. Okay,
(15:16):
And overall, companies that value diversity have a six point
eight percent higher stock price than those who don't. So again,
this is really a hard thing to measure. It's a
kind of challenging to determine the exact percentages of federal
DEI funding allocantic groups of students broken down my rights
and ethnicity because I work, again, I work in higher education,
(15:37):
and there's a lot of different programs that I kind
of do float funding for clubs, for programs, for scholarships,
for initiatives, and that's just our college. And it's hard
for me who works there to figure out where all
this where everything's being allocated to. So it's kind of
hard to get these numbers. But we're gonna broadly speak here.
So I am a person who believes in journalism. I
(15:58):
was a journalism major and the college that I attended,
and I've always believed that good journalism is good for
democracy and it's necessary for it. In times where journalism
was stifled or kind of told not to be, you know,
the journalists were told not to report on certain things,
and then we're talking about like Hitler Times, stuff like that,
where the leadership kind of controlled what the word was
(16:22):
being put out because they did not want the truth out.
They just wanted to put out whatever their their message
was to get a blind following. That usually happens when
you don't have journalism. Here's the facts, So I'm speaking
broadly a large majority of people, so a whole big
portion of people within most racial and ethnic groups do
(16:44):
receive some kind of federal funding, some of which is
connected to DEI programs. So that includes tell, okay, check
this out, eighty one percent of black students, seventy four percent,
seventy four percent of a mirror an Indian or Alaskan
Native students, seventy two percent of Hispanic or Latino students.
(17:07):
And here's the big one, seventy percent of white students
and sixty six percent of age students, according to a
twenty twenty three report from the National Center of Education
Statistics based on data during the twenty eighteen and twenty
twenty academic year. So if you notice, every single percent
(17:28):
that I read off is higher than fifty percent, which
means most of these groups had some sort of federal
funding that was tied to DEI. So again, like I said,
getting the records accurately is a little tough, and the
centators that didn't actually indicate whether these grants were explicitly
(17:51):
designated for DEI initiatives. For example, PEL grants are need
based but not really explicitly DEI. So I just I
make sure that we're clear on that that some of
these fundings that were used Ford initiatives weren't actually part
of a DEI program anyways. That being said, DEI initiatives
(18:12):
doing compass a broad range of programs that support various
unrepresented groups, including first generation college students. So what is
a first generation student? So a first generation student are
students or students whose parents did not graduate from college.
(18:33):
All right, And here's the thing. When we're talking about
first gen students, this includes a lot of whites, right,
so if you are a person of if you were
a white person, a lot of are. In fact, most
of the college students who attend college our first gen students. Again, also,
(18:55):
we're going to get into it. These these de initiatives
also benefit women and veterans. And again I am also
a veteran, so that also, you know, impacts me. I'm
a person of color and a veteran. So so national
data shows that fifty six percent of college students are
first generation students. And here's the kicker. White students represent
(19:22):
forty six percent of that group, and that's more than
any other single race. So the majority of students who
identify as white students. I'm sorry, miss Elm, We're tied.
The majority of students who identify as first generation students
(19:44):
are white, so let's break it down like entirely. Honestly,
people with disabilities make up the largest minority group in
America and they represent a growing share of college students.
So the majority of people who get DEI help are
in the disability or disabled population. Now, I hate using
(20:07):
the word disability because there's a whole disabilities or disabled
covers a whole ground of people and what they're dealing with,
but it is actually very overlooked when it comes to DEI.
With twenty point five percent of undergraduate students reporting a disability.
Many institutions addressed this through disability services, which im sure
(20:31):
students receive such appropriate testing combinations like you know, extended
exam times or classroom support or extra access to assistive technology.
For example, in one of my classes, I have a
student who was hearing impaired, and we have people set
(20:52):
up to kind of do the sign language so she
can understand what I am teaching in class. Right, She's
not trying to read my lips to understands the sil
thingguage much better and that helps her out and I
think that's important. I think it helps her succeed in
my class, and she's been doing very well with that.
(21:14):
Again I mentioned earlier. DEI programs also target women and veterans.
Now'll check this out. Women make up more than half
of COW students, and they promote equity in male dominant
fields also such as science, technology, engineering, and math, and
leadership roles in government, academia, and the private the private sector,
(21:38):
so veterans is a whole different thing. DII programs provide
tailored resources like academic support, mental health services, and career
transition assistants that recognize the unique challenges that some veterans
face and higher education. So a lot of people don't
realize that someone who has served in the military and
(22:01):
then comes to college is usually in a completely different
situation than your typical student who graduates high school and
goes directly to college. Right, your typical high school student
who graduates from high school and goes to college, they're
usually between the ages of seventeen and eighteen years old
for their first year of college. Now, if you have
(22:24):
ever served in the military, or you know one who
has served in the military, you already know that the
majority that the least amount of time you can spend
in the military unless you're injured or something else happens,
is four years, right, and usually that's followed by a
year of reserves. So if you join the military, you
(22:44):
usually do four years of whatever branch you're in, plus
one year reserves after that. So usually about a five
year period is what you are giving to service. And
some obviously serve longer than that. Some people say for
ten years. Some people retire. So a lot of students
who served in the military, they're coming in at a
(23:06):
much older age, right, So if you take eighteen and
you add four years to that, right, and then and
then there's that fifth year that reserve, you still can
come to the military and the reserves because you don't
have to do the weekends and stuff. Right, But you're
looking at someone who's twenty two years old or older,
usually if they have served prior to going to college.
(23:28):
A lot of people come in after ten years of service,
fifteen years of service. They are full adults who have families,
they're married with children, and they're starting college for the
first time. Now, if you've never been into a if
you have not really been into an academic field, or
stayed in like a high school into college mindset after
(23:49):
serving in the military, and let's say you're a combat
veteran too, so you were put into some very situations
that are very stressful, take a lot on of you.
You've seen some things that people have not served will
never see. You've seen people get hurt, you've seen people
get shot, you've seen people die. So when you come
(24:14):
to college and you're trying to transition from military life
to civilian life, that can be difficult. So DEI programs
help with that. They help with the sometimes the academia
area where you know, you never went to college, or
(24:36):
you maybe weren't the best person in high school. Not
the best person, but you've weren't the best student in
high school, let me say that. So now you have
to try to catch up and get your your mindset
ready for college and get yourself back at a level
in college where you could succeed. De programs help with
the system with that. Some people have some mental or
(25:00):
in general from their experience in the military, right, DII
programs help you deal with that. So AGAINDI is so
much people believe that DI is just a race or
just sex or gender. So much that they forget about
(25:21):
our veterans, that they forget about our disabled, that they
forget about our women. These programs help all these folks too,
and not even that that help our first generation students
who are predominantly white. So this DEI is not just
(25:43):
helping people of color and people who are part of
the LGBTQ community. DEI actually is helping everyone. And that's
why I think it's important to recognize that maybe not
cut everything INDI, but if you have issues with it,
maybe mix changes to try to fix some things. But
just getting rid of it actually hurts everyone. It hurts everyone,
(26:12):
and that's kind of the reason why I want to
bring this to your attention. All right, we are going
to take a break and we come back. We will
conclude Inside the Margins. You're listening to Inside the Margins
on one hundred point nine w XR extreme independent Radio
in Rochester's urban alternative station.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Do you have a topic that you would like discussed
on Inside the Margins.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
We would love to hear from you. Please send your thoughts, comments,
more questions to Inside Margins at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Thanks so much, Welcome back to Inside the Margins, and yes,
make sure you listen to that last verbiage right there.
I always want to hear the stories that you're most
interested in, and we can always try to incorporate stories
are inside the margins. So you want to hear from you.
You got any suggestions of what we should talk about,
(27:07):
You have any comments on the things that we have
talked about, you have any suggestions for me or the
show in general, just email us at inside Margins at
gmail dot Just go ahead and send us an email
inside Margins at gmail dot com. Again, that's inside Margins
at gmail dot com. All right, So again we've been
(27:30):
talking about the war on DEI, what DEI is, who
it's impacted in, how it's helped people. Now, don't get
me wrong, nothing's perfect. I'm not even saying DEI is perfect.
There are some things that DEI was doing that I
even don't agree with. But here's the thing. I had
a friend say this to me once. If the tires
(27:54):
on your car are bald, do you throw out the
entire car? No, If the tires on your car are bald,
you get new tires. You don't say this car is
not working. So let's just get rid of the whole thing.
And that's what the issue is here. DEI has been
(28:16):
a benefit for many people, having a sense of self,
having diverse work groups, feeling included. Those are good things.
There's never been a part of my life where the
word diversity was actually considered bad. I cannot remember a
(28:39):
time in my recent life that when you said, man,
this is a diverse crowd, people thought that that was
a bad thing to say, because diversity is not bad.
Inclusion is not bad, right, But somehow we have maitte
that bad in our language now because of the fact
that people believe, they truly believe that DEI has stopped
(29:03):
people from getting the jobs they deserved because people are
trying to fulfill some sort of quota, so they intentionally
hire people of color, of people of a certain sexuality
or gender just because they need to have that so
they can show diversity instead of hiring people that are
actually qualified for the job. When actuality, what happens is
instead of people being left out right, a person of
(29:26):
color or a woman or someone of a different sexuality
was as qualified or more qualified, used to not get
the job because of that, because of their diversity, because
of their background, because of the fact that they were
a person of color, or because if they were a woman,
because they were disabled, or because that they were older. Right,
people would sometimes not give them the job. It's because
(29:47):
they thought that because their their race, their color, their age,
their sexuality would do something to hinder their performance. And
that's why DEI was invented, really to help those who
have been discriminated against, not to discriminate against discriminators. Right. So,
(30:10):
like I said, we've been cutting a lot of funding veterans.
The Veterans Outreach Center has cut a lot of stuff.
A lot of veteran programming has been cut. So the
help that veterans desperately need to get their self started
and situated in higher education, a lot of those support
systems have been removed for them. Right. Some of the
(30:32):
groups that people have that celebrate their differences, right, people
have groups where they can join and be around people
like them so they can feel like they belong. The
programming for those groups have been removed. I don't necessarily
certainly think this is a good thing. So it's okay
to have a tennis group, but it's not okay to
(30:53):
have an African drum group. Why not? What harm is
that doing to anybody? And why do you need to
get rid of it. Does the fact that there's an
African drum group is that offend somebody? I don't understand.
I guess I have a hard time understanding this. So
why am I going through all this? Why am I
saying this? Why am I putting this episode out? Because
(31:16):
you know that some people who listen to this are
going to be upset with it because they think that
I'm leading heavily one way or another. But that's not
what we're trying to do here. We're just trying to
put the facts out in front of you. We're just
trying to let you know what DEI actually is, the
history of DEI, and what DEI has done to actually
(31:39):
help people. Like I said earlier, nothing is perfect. A
lot of the programs that we have in place for
a lot of different things are not perfect, but a
lot of them I have the right idea and are
trying to do something positive. So, like I said said,
(32:00):
when you are trying to do the right thing and
there actually has been benefits of what you've been doing,
don't toss out the entire thing. Just make the changes
and make it better. That's how we move forward, and
that's how we keep everybody involved in everyone happy with
these situations. Thank you so much for listening to Inside
(32:23):
the Margins. It's so great to be back on the air,
so great that we're doing these programmers in these educational topics.
Once again, I said it earlier. We love to hear
from you Inside Margins at gmail dot com. That's how
you get a hold of us and tell us your
thoughts on the show. We will be back next week
and we'll be on w XII every week on Tuesday
(32:43):
at six pm. We will see you next week on
Inside the Margins.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com