Speaking during a House Oversight Committee hearing, Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Summer Lee expertly pinpointed why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are being targeted by Republicans nationwide, noting that "remedying past discrimination is not, in turn, a discrimination."
DEI programs are organizational strategies aimed at ensuring fair treatment and full participation for everyone, with a special focus on historically marginalized or discriminated groups. These frameworks strive to create an environment where all individuals, regardless of their identity or abilities, are valued and included.
Critics argue that DEI programs are discriminatory and try to address racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly White Americans. However, supporters and industry experts maintain that DEI practices, which have been in place for decades, have been politicized and are often misunderstood.
Lee spoke as Republicans voiced their support for the “Dismantle DEI Act,” which would “abolish” all federal DEI offices and eliminate funding for federal DEI programs, saying that "Americans who have not enjoyed centuries of unfair advantages" would suffer if the bill passes.
You can hear what she said in the video below, which she shared to her followers on X, formerly Twitter.
She said:
"We know who those Americans are: Americans who have not enjoyed centuries of unfair advantages by keeping each other enslaved or segregated or disenfranchised or incarcerated or redlined or gerrymandered or excluded by law. Americans who have disabilities or have had their relationships criminalized or their gender expression demonized."
"If we're being honest here, this bill, which would wipe out every diversity, equity, and inclusion program in our federal agencies wants those who contract with us, plus those who receive grant money, plus our schools is nothing new. This is just the final piece of a decades-long obsession with targeting or dismantling anything that might give marginalized people a fair shot, including DEI programs which started the second the Civil Rights Act passed."
"Policies like affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion are the closest thing we have to the mythical bootstraps that some of my colleagues insist historically harmed communities need to pick themselves up by after centuries of efforts to keep us out of schools and jobs and universities and elected offices, Republicans attacking these policies is no accident."
"Why do predominantly conservative white men believe that the success of a Black person or the opportunity or access of a Black person is an existential threat to them? DEI is not giving them any unfair advantage that society itself does not already confer on certain Americans. It merely exists to ensure that all other people, women, minoritized folks, queer folks, disabled folks have the same opportunities to thrive in our workforce, in our schools as people who have not had those opportunities."
Lee noted that "contrary to Republican conjecture, remedying past discrimination is not, in turn, a discrimination," adding that "we're not going to sit here and pretend racism is over just because one Black person on the Supreme Court agreed that it should be." She added that DEI programs do not give "some kind of pass" to better jobs or opportunities, stressing that the definition of "equity" is to "treat people fairly and impartially."
She went further, stressing that "Republicans are trying to bastardize the term to be a slur" by referring to Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Vice President Kamala Harris as "DEI hires."
And referring to Pete Hegseth and Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump's respective nominees for Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Education, she said:
“They want you to believe that Harvard graduate with over 20 years of experience is not qualified but a Fox personality is qualified to run the Department of Defense and a WWE executive is qualified to run the Department of Education."
She added:
“Let’s be real. There is an attempt to create a direct correlation between our race, being a Black person and our qualifications. So much as to say there is no way to be a Black woman, there is no résumé a Black person could have that would qualify them unless that Black person is a Republican and there is a quota there.”
"While all of this is happening at the top level of our government, I can promise you these same things are happening at every level of government and the private sector, but those people do not have a national platform to speak out against discriminatory treatment."
"Where is a federal worker supposed to turn when a colleague makes a racist comment in the break room? Where is the same-sex couple, because of their relationship, supposed to turn? Where is a pregnant woman who was fired for being pregnant supposed to go? Often the only place they have to give them any recourse are the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs."
"These folks just want to do their jobs serving the American people in an environment that makes them feel safe and supports them. Making work a better and safe environment for some does not mean it's automatically worse for others and those complaining about DEI training are probably the ones who need it the most."
She concluded:
"My Republican colleagues have got to stop punching down on already marginalized communities and face their own fears of a level playing field privately. It’s shameful."
Many applauded her remarks.
Your move, Republicans.
