By Marsten “Marty” Anderson The Alycia Anderson Company Staff

What is the DEI Backlash?

Earlier this year PBS NewsHour reported on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Backlash movement that has been happening across the country, reporting that 5 states had recently passed laws banning funds used for DEI in education and government settings. It reported that 25 states overall have enacted the equivalent of 71 bills regarding DEI throughout the country.

The debate has been heightened by the Israeli and Palestinian conflict which has raised questions about tolerance, inclusion and academic freedom on college campuses.

In this PBS NewsHour report, a free speech organizer was the critic and a tenured education professional served as the advocate in discussing their opinions on the benefits and difficulties related to DEI. 

Opponents of DEI have traditionally bellowed their opposition in public arenas by belying the costs and claiming that liberal educators are indoctrinating their students among many other perfidious arguments. Worst of all they have hid behind and added mist to the complications of what DEI aims to achieve, and timidly refused to roll up their sleeves and partake in the immense amounts of work that is needed to be done in the field.

What is DEI?

DEI at its root is an introduction to an awkward, elaborate and complex conversation. It is at its core attempting to answer the tough questions of; how do we move forward from a cryptic paradoxical place of inequity into a place where we can find unity, inclusion and contentment for all parties involved. It teaches mantras like belonging, psychological safety and accessibility. It is NOT a place of immovable objects, stances and points of view that may be rallied by extremists on either side of an argument, and again, at its core is an attempt at finding a place of coming together where we may find common ground and move the needle forward to an equitable goal.

DEI did not just appear out of thin air, and it is literally just getting started. The government roles, company departments and university offices that have recently been created in retrospect to the millennia of injustices are plainly in their infancy.  These positions that are required to fill the daunting tasks they are charged with facing are currently easy targets for adversaries, foes and faultfinders.  Yet, there are still those willing to pick up the torch and lead the way.

DEI is not only the right thing to learn, teach and share with every human on this earth that can possibly be reached, influenced and recruited. DEI is our only way forward from certain global destabilization and what is becoming ever more clearly a selfish power play by the world’s true enemies of greed, waste and misinformation.

In this PBS NewsHour report, the two deliberators represented their arguments of how academic freedom was at risk in both respects. 

The DEI Debate

While the antagonist of DEI relayed how campuses with larger DEI components described students worrying more about what they posted about their feelings on social media and outlined one-off inflammatory incidents that have been recounted at specific universities and colleges throughout the nation to cloud the overarching efforts of all DEI programs. 

Further expounding his opinion of an alarming trend in the layoffs of a rising number of college professors. Implying these layoffs were in relation to the rise of DEI initiatives implemented over the past several years, and neglecting the realities of what little research is available at this time in regards to the true effects of DEI. 

While the protector of DEI exhaustedly outlined the necessity of preparing tomorrow’s leaders to be prepared for the unbreakable resilience that will be required of them when they face these issues in the real world of life after education, and further trumpeting the crucial role that these DEI programs provide in safeguarding our democracy worldwide.

There is a reason that in circles of DEI leaders you will hear conversations about the need for self-care and the threats of burnout.

How Does Disability Fit-in with DEI?

So why am I taking the time to write about this? Why am I drawing a line in the sand when it comes to DEI, and what have I got to gain from it?

My disability has taught me the meaning of limits and what it is to reach beyond them.

Marty Anderson

I am disabled. I am a man with a disability. I have lived nearly my entire life with a disability. I do not remember a time in my life that I was not disabled. Because of my disability I have been marginalized, discounted, ignored, disregarded and much more, but my disability has also taught me the meaning of limits and what it is to reach beyond them.

Only through my own personal will to find a way to succeed despite insurmountable odds and through the support of a select few people who believed in me, I have found my way to care not only for myself, but for those who are like me, as well as, those who are not.

My disability has allowed me to understand my humanity, it has granted me the permission to love and respect things that may not be perfect to the ordinary eye.

Marty Anderson

I have taken it on myself to try and make the world a better place, to try and help those I know need help and to do what I can with all the abilities I still have at my disposal. 

My disability has allowed me to understand my humanity, it has granted me the permission to love and respect things that may not be perfect to the ordinary eye. My disability allows me to have empathy for others and at the same time expect more from them.  My disability has taught me to live alone, but has also forced me to look for shelter in others.

Disability inclusion is what I seek to gain from my efforts. It is the common ground in DEI, as it crosses all race, culture and gender lines that can divide us. Disability is widely varied, complex, mysterious and it can be set to any one of us at any time.  Disability can strike again and again. 

Why the Disabled Community Advocates for DEI

The disabled community is aware of what ally’s look like, and know that just like those opposing the hard work of DEI, it is just as easy to forgo the effort of disability inclusion. Centuries of sayings like, “It’s too complicated…, it’s too expensive…, their lives aren’t worth living…, we are better off without them…, only the strong survive…, the weak will be weeded out…, they are a waste of resources…., they cannot take care of themselves…, it’s better if we make the decisions for them…” and on and on and on, ring to clearly in the hearts and the minds of our members.

A Close Look at DE&I

Diversity does not only appear in the color of our skin, the location in which we were born, the language that we speak, the gender we represent, the financial means we have or the religious beliefs we observe.  Diversity also shows up in the abilities we have, what we feel, what we see, what we hear, how we age and even the cells our bodies are composed of. Diversity is how we share where we are at, what we are looking for and to fill that we are missing. Respecting our diversities leads us to find the perfect mix in our global community.

Diversity shows up in the abilities we have, what we feel, what we see, what we hear, how we age and even the cells our bodies are composed of.

Equity is our born rights to the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is why it is not right to hoard resources and impose our will on others.  It is why we protect the weak, make right from our wrongs, believe in rule of law and strive for more perfect unions. Equity is the pursuit of a sense of equality that is fair and just. Equity is our opportunity to compromise and it is how we can find balance and equilibrium in our Universe.

Equity is why we protect the weak, make right from our wrongs and believe in the rule of law.

Marty Anderson

Inclusion is the promise that binds these philosophies. It is the safe place that our combined hard work produces. Inclusion demands that we all belong, no matter our diversities.  Inclusion is an act, a feeling, its words, its physical, its intangible and it is seamless, natural, intuitive as well as constant.  Inclusion is the start and the end, it is inescapable, inviting, nurturing and universal. Inclusion is barrier free.

Inclusion is an act, a feeling, its words, its physical, its intangible and it is seamless, natural, intuitive as well as constant.

Marty Anderson

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are not scary things to be feared and avoided at all costs. DEI is our path forward to a better world for all of us. It is a place to find common ground, compromise and communicate to each other our beneficial mutual goals.