As the private sector abandons DEI, the government cannot let up

Is DEI dying?

We can hope. And with Tuesday’s abrupt resignation of disgraced former Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, it’s starting to look like it.

Like most leftist slogans, “DEI” — short for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — is essentially a lie.

“Diversity” is code for specific quotas for hiring and promotion based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and similar factors. In practice, it amounts to discrimination.

“Equity” sounds like “equality,” an idea that Americans like, but in reality it means the exact opposite.

By “equality” we do not treat people equally, but very clearly treat them unequally in the name of “fair” outcomes—a term that means exactly whatever decision-makers want to give it at any given time.

When it comes to “inclusion,” when was the last time you saw a “DEI advocate” demanding the inclusion of Republicans, conservatives, Christians, and white males?

They want to take into account all — except for the people they don’t like.

For some time, we have been told that DEI is good for business and that it encourages good relationships between people.

But in reality, there is no evidence that corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts improve financial performance. The main support for this theory was a McKinsey study that was, well, questionable.

Moreover, there is ample evidence on college campuses that DEI efforts are deepening racial divisions and biases, not reducing them.

Shockingly, drawing attention to differences between people and handing out gifts based on those differences does not promote a sense of community.

Companies and universities are starting to take notice: Microsoft recently fired its DEI team, becoming the latest company to abandon woke policies.

Other tech companies like Google and Meta, as well as Zoom, Snap, Tesla, DoorDash, Lyft, Home Depot and Wayfair, are also scaling back their DEI programs.

Retailer Tractor Supply did the same and also faced negative customer reaction, as did John Deere.

Similarly, as the Chronicle of Higher Education reports, colleges across the country are dismantling their DEI programs, and one of the largest human resources organizations, the Society for Human Resources Management, is phasing out the concept of “equity” from its DEI efforts.

Recently, in a counter-word that has gained some popularity, DEI has come to stand for “Didn’t Earn It,” in reference to critics who note that case managers put incompetent people in various positions solely because of their observable characteristics.

Which brings us to the Secret Service and their rather pathetic performance during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Cheatle, a former agency executive, has been vocal about her diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, producing video ads featuring female police officers.

But the promotional materials fell flat compared to actual footage of stocky, awkward female agents struggling with holsters and sunglasses after the shootout.

The Australian station Sky News in a humiliating commentary called them “clumsy fumbelines”.

Were these unimpressive agents given their jobs because of DEI?

Given Cheatle’s push for diversification, it’s a fair question.

Even the best agents won’t be able to adequately protect a tall man if they are short themselves.

“You have to be taller than the candidate to protect him with your body” Meghan McCain tweeted“Why are these short women (apparently the kind who can’t put away their guns) guarding Trump?”

One reason is to make it clear that they are hiring agents who stray from the traditional Clint Eastwood/Kevin Costner model of the tall, athletic Secret Service agent. Look – they’re there, on national TV!

The benefits of “visible diversity,” however, are lost when they appear on national television and do not holster their weapons.

During a congressional hearing Monday, both Republicans and Democrats spoke with disdain of Cheatle’s actions and priorities.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) called her a “DEI horror.” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) demanded her resignation, just as former director Stuart Knight resigned after President Ronald Reagan was shot. And now Cheatle has done it.

When you focus on appearance, you find yourself missing the point.

Want to increase visibility for key people from different walks of life? To rent the best people from all walks of life, without worrying about norms, “equality,” and other devious ways of judging people based on factors other than their abilities.

Most of the people running our companies and institutions clearly have enough trouble doing their actual jobs—building functional software (I mean you, CrowdStrike), preventing assassination attempts on presidential candidates, and the like.

Too many of our institutions, public and private, have been hijacked by fashionable causes that have nothing to do with their real missions.

If, as seems likely, some of them back away from their overly committed DEI, that can only be a good sign.

Faster, please.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a law professor at the University of Tennessee and founder of the blog InstaPundit.com.