Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

It is time to rethink DEI

Rainbow sign that reads "All Are Welcome Here"
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

In August 2019 I wrote: “Diverse people must be in every room where decisions are made.” Co-author Debilyn Molineaux and I explained that diversity and opportunity in regard to race/ethnicity, sex/gender, social identity, religion, ideology would be an operating system for the Bridge Alliance — and, we believed, for the nation as a whole.

A lot has happened since 2019.


After the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, the nation erupted in protest with renewed demands for justice and reform. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was placed at the forefront of academic and corporate policies.

And now, after the election of 2024, attitudes toward DEI appear to have turned 180 degrees. As we head into 2025, DEI has been rejected by a vast portion of the American electorate and thus many claim there is a mandate for members of Congress and the president of the United States to turn back the clock on diversity, equity and inclusion.

This thinking is not new. Almost a year ago, I wrote:

“Diversity, equity and inclusion are words that excite passion on all sides of the political spectrum. Yet as so often happens when passions are aroused, the possibility of having a meaningful discussion with any semblance of the critical thinking required to understand the complexity of the subject is virtually impossible.”

In that writing, I quoted an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal titled “DEI Spells Death for the Idea of a University,” in which writer Matthew Spalding made this statement:

“Diversity is no longer a term to describe the breadth of our differences but a demand to flatter and grant privileges to purportedly oppressed identity groups. Equity assigns desirable positions based on race, sex and sexual orientation rather than character, competence and merit. Inclusion now means creating a social environment where identity groups are celebrated while those who disagree are maligned.”

Rather than speak in sound bites — as will certainly happen as politicians try to take advantage of the perceived mandate to end DEI — it is more important than ever for those on the left and the right to open their minds to the complexities of diversity in colleges, universities, workplaces, our communities and our lives.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

In the coming months, The Fulcrum will reexamine the complexities of DEI. We must ask ourselves if diversity means a granting of privileges to those who are not deserving or whether it means an equality of opportunity so that our nation can merely live into the diversity that is America. As politicians will use fear to appeal to the hearts and minds of Americans, The Fulcrum will instead lead through deep inquiry and analysis

The results of the election offer an opportunity for DEI proponents to deeply reflect on the mistakes that have been made with respect to DEI thinking and policy. We will call on both proponents and opponents of DEI to have deep discussions as to what equity really means asking questions like:

Should equity assign desirable positions based on race, sex and sexual orientation rather than character, competence and merit? Or should the term equity simply mean bringing fairness and justice to institutions and the workplace by providing equality of opportunity? Or something else?

Our inquiry will ask whether DEI advocates used the term inclusion, either consciously or unconsciously, to accept a cancel culture that celebrated identity groups while maligning those who disagreed with these policies or were not a part of these groups. We fully understand that many politicians have used “cancel culture” and “woke” as red herrings to divert attention from the complex issues facing a diverse nation, but this doesn’t preclude opening our minds to a discussion on how to define equity as an operating system and not as a quota.

The issues facing our nation are far too serious to be left to the seekers of political advantage. We realize that addressing the issues of diversity, equity and inclusion is complex. We understand that in the world of today’s politics it is easier for the politicians on both sides to use fearful and hateful rhetoric to rally their constituencies. This is why, as a nation, we must face the issues that have divided us for over 200 years. We must understand that this messy and frustrating process of democracy will only work if We the People rise above the politics of division and separation.

It is our responsibility as citizens and citizen leaders to rise above this infighting and demagoguery. Our national challenges and problems are earnest, urgent and serious. Thomas Jefferson recognized that democracy was born from discourse and discussion, and that such resulting discussion would be replete with differing perspectives and opinions.

For our Republic to survive ideological and power differences, we must lead with inquiry, and move from inquiry to shared truth.

The Fulcrum understands that one of the greatest challenges facing Americans is to live up to our nation’s motto of E pluribus unum — Out of many, one.

Please join us in the coming months as we explore pluralism through deep inquiry and analysis.

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Read More

Future of the National Museum of the American Latino is Uncertain

PRESENTE! A Latino History of the United States

Credit: National Museum of the American Latino

Future of the National Museum of the American Latino is Uncertain

The American Museum of the Latino faces more hurdles after over two decades of advocacy.

Congress passed legislation to allow for the creation of the Museum, along with the American Women’s History Museum, as part of the Smithsonian Institution in an online format. Five years later, new legislation introduced by Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) wants to build a physical museum for both the Latino and women’s museums but might face pushback due to a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

Keep ReadingShow less
Fairness, Not Stigma, for Transgender Athletes

People running.

Getty Images, Pavel1964

Fairness, Not Stigma, for Transgender Athletes

President Trump’s campaign and allies spent $21 million of campaign spending on attack ads against transgender people. With that level of spending, I was shocked to find out it was not a top concern for voters of either party, but it continued to prevail as a campaign priority.

Opponents of transgender participation in sports continue to voice their opinions, three months into the Trump presidency. Just last month, the Trump administration suspended $175 million in federal funding to Penn State over a transgender swimmer. $175 million is a bit dramatic over one swimmer, or in the case of the entire NCAA, fewer than 10 athletes. Even Governor Gavin Newsom was recently under fire for sharing his views on his podcast. Others, like Rep. Nancy Mace, have also caught on to the mediagenic nature of transphobia right now. “You want penises in women's bathrooms, and I'm not going to have it,” she said in a U.S. House hearing last month. I had no clue who Nancy Mace was prior to her notorious views on LGBTQ+ rights. Frankly, her flip from being a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights to shouting “Tr**ny” in a hearing seems less like a change of opinion and more of a cry for attention.

Keep ReadingShow less
Banned Books Damn Our Children's Future

Two children reading in school.

Getty Images, Jim Craigmyle

Banned Books Damn Our Children's Future

April 2nd is International Children's Book Day. It is time to celebrate the transformative power of children's literature and mourn the spaces where stories once lived. The numbers are staggering: there were over 10,000 book bans in U.S. public schools during the 2023-2024 school year alone, affecting more than 4,000 unique titles. Each banned book represents a mirror taken away from a child who might have seen themselves in those pages or a window closed to a child who might have glimpsed a world beyond their own.

I'm a child of the 80s and 90s, back when PBS was basically raising us all. Man, LeVar Burton's voice on Reading Rainbow was like that cool uncle who always knew exactly what book you needed. Remember him saying, "But you don't have to take my word for it"? And Sesame Street—that show was living proof that a kid from the Bronx could learn alongside a kid from rural Kansas, no questions asked. These and other such programs convinced an entire generation that we could "go anywhere" and "be anything.” Also, they were declarations that every child deserves to see themselves in stories, to dream in technicolor, and to imagine futures unlimited by the accidents of birth or circumstance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Storytelling that exposes injustices and inspires equity
- YouTube

Storytelling that exposes injustices and inspires equity

Stephanie R. Toliver is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction focusing on English Education and Adolescent/Secondary Literacy.

In her research, Toliver employs creativity and imagination to confront systemic inequities and promote more equitable education environments.

Keep ReadingShow less