The Corrupt Nature of DEI


Once it is averred that inequality is wrong and the government ought to do “something” to make people more equal, tyranny is always around the corner. Equalization methods and strategies may vary, but some degree of coercion is guaranteed once it is decided to equalize human beings. The philosopher Antony Flew characterized egalitarianism as a procrustean ideal—some must be stretched to breaking point, while others must be cut down to size, in order to ensure that all are enjoying equal life opportunities. As David Gordon often reminds us, this is why Murray Rothbard regarded “equality of opportunity” as an absurd and anti-human ideal.

Egalitarian ideology currently marches under the banner of “diversity, equity and inclusiveness.” Jordan Peterson refers to DEI as “the great ideological lie,” and pointedly reverses the acronym from DEI to DIE to emphasize the inevitable outcome of diversity enforcement. Commenting on diversity policies in Canadian higher education, Peterson wrote:

All my craven colleagues must craft DIE statements to obtain a research grant. They all lie (excepting the minority of true believers) and they teach their students to do the same. And they do it constantly, with various rationalizations and justifications, further corrupting what is already a stunningly corrupt enterprise. Some of my colleagues even allow themselves to undergo so-called anti-bias training, conducted by supremely unqualified Human Resources personnel, lecturing inanely and blithely and in an accusatory manner about theoretically all-pervasive racist/sexist/heterosexist attitudes.

In the United States, Christopher Caldwell traces diversity policies to the Supreme Court interpretation of the Civil Rights Act 1964 in the case of Regents of Univ. of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978). In his book Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties, he describes affirmative action as “the main avenue through which civil rights law was changing the country’s public and private institutions.” Describing university programs that reserved a number of places for African Americans, Caldwell explains: “That such programs discriminated, by reallocating opportunities from whites to blacks and other minorities, was obvious. It was their whole point.” It was not disputed at the time that these programs were discriminatory; the question was not whether they were discriminatory, but whether they were justified as a means of correcting inequality. Caldwell adds that, “The justices were concerned with how the programs discriminated, and on what grounds.”

Caldwell explains that the “new definition of “diversity” provided a rationale for four judges in Bakke who approved of this pro-black discrimination. These judges “accepted Lyndon Johnson’s description of American society as a footrace to which one runner had arrived shackled—on that basis, they could countenance some infringement on whites’ individual rights in order to fix a society-deforming wrong.” Following from Bakke, diversity was thereafter depicted as the overarching goal of equal opportunities. Discrimination against white people was seen as nothing more than promoting diversity, and endorsed by the courts as a “justified” means of achieving what many egalitarians describe as “true equality.” Caldwell points out that although Bakke purported to distinguish between quotas (illegal) and “diversity” (legal), the end result of diversity is precisely the same as using quotas: “[Justice Lewis] Powell’s opinion, in short, did not eliminate quotas. It just dressed them up as something else. It required all schools that used racial preferences to recast them as programs to promote their interest in the diversity of their student bodies.” Thus arose the hegemony of diversity, which was later reinforced by the concepts of inclusiveness and equity.

Diversity as a legal obligation

Caldwell further explains how the notion of “diversity” upheld in Bakke not only justified discrimination against whites and in favor of minorities, but also came to be regarded by many institutions as an implicit legal obligation—in the sense that failing to promote diversity came to be seen as a breach of the equal opportunities obligations of the Civil Rights Act. Paradoxically, the use of critical race theory “divisive concepts” and anti-white racism, both of which many people regard as a violation of the equal protection clause of the US constitution, came to be regarded as a positive legal obligation under civil rights law.

This explains the shouting matches often observed between traditional supporters of the Fourteenth Amendment – those who believe in “colorblind equality” and supporters of the Civil Rights Act who believe in DEI. The colorblind egalitarians insist that DEI is racially discriminatory against whites and therefore illegal, while the DEI egalitarians retort that banning DEI violates the Civil Rights Act by ignoring discrimination against blacks, and is therefore illegal. Both sides also invoke the First Amendment free speech protection to defend their position. From a Rothbardian perspective, both protagonists that are yelling “that’s illegal!” at each other are lost (though arguably the DEI egalitarians are more woefully lost than the colorblind egalitarians) and the only workable solution would be to repeal both the Civil Rights Act, as Lew Rockwell has argued, and the Fourteenth Amendment.

This is the dispute currently unfolding in several states that have banned DEI in public schools and universities. In Alabama, for example, the University of Alabama guidance states:

“Following the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision, federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, and sex. On June 29, 2023, the Court ruled race conscious admissions programs used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina were not legal in the cases Students for Fair Admissions (SSFA) v. Harvard and Fair Admissions v. North Carolina. In addition, the Alabama State Legislature passed, and Governor Kay Ivey signed into law, Senate Bill 129 (SB129),2 which defines and imposes limitations related to “divisive concepts” as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.”

The guidance goes on to define the meaning of DEI programs, emphasizing that programs deemed to be “necessary to comply” with other legal obligations are not DEI programs:

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are defined as “[a]ny program, class, training, seminar, or other event where attendance is based on an individual’s race, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin, or sexual orientation, or that otherwise violates [the law].”

Under the law, programs, classes, trainings, seminars, or other events that are necessary to comply with applicable state law, federal law, court order, or accreditation requirements are NOT considered DEI programs.”

The reference to “other legal obligations” with which it is still necessary to comply includes things like civil rights obligations and Department of Education mandates. For example, the National Center for Education Statistics requires “maintaining, collecting, and reporting racial and ethnic data to the U.S. Department of Education.” DEI bans do not affect these reporting obligations and it is likely that through statistical reporting on diversity the corrupt enterprise of DIE referred to by Jordan will continue its hegemony.

Another reason why it may be premature to celebrate the end of DEI is that DEI bans are under attack from Democrat politicians who claim that banning DEI is a breach of the Fourteenth Amendment. Their argument is that providing equal protection to minority groups requires DEI programs, therefore banning DEI programs strips minorities of the equal protection encompassed in DEI. Hence institutions closing down their DEI offices are remaining cautious, aiming “to review their workplace policies and training programs with respect to existing obligations under federal, state, and local laws, such as the anti discrimination requirements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and other civil rights statutes.” Some have also argued that banning DEI is potentially a breach of free speech, an interpretation upheld by courts in Florida in striking down parts of Florida’s “Stop WOKE” law. Florida’s experience illustrates the cost hazards for states fighting against DEI.

“Florida could face paying nearly $750,000 in legal fees for businesses that successfully challenged part of a 2022 law that Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act.” Citing what they called a “resounding victory,” attorneys for the businesses filed a motion Friday seeking $749,642 in fees. Also, they sought $41,144 in additional costs related to the lengthy legal battle.”

In addition to this unfolding lawfare, it should be noted that the Supreme Court in SFFA stated that “nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” Many academics committed to DEI have seized on this enthusiastically as a potentially rich vein to exploit in advancing their diversity ambitions.

It is therefore clear that the fight against DEI is by no means over. In many ways, it is only just beginning.

 


Originally Posted at https://mises.org/


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    Chinese Agent Who Tried To Bribe IRS Against Shen Yun Sentenced To 20 Months in Prison

    Chinese Agent Who Tried To Bribe IRS Against Shen Yun Sentenced To 20 Months in Prison

    Authored by Eva Fu and Cara Ding via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A Chinese agent who tried to bribe the IRS and manipulate the agency into advancing Beijing’s transnational repression of a U.S. nonprofit has received a 20-month prison sentence.

    U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains on Jov. 19, 2024. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

    U.S. citizen John Chen, 72, was a principal actor in a $50,000 bribery scheme under the direction of a Chinese intelligence official to revoke the nonprofit status of New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts.

    Shen Yun has long been on the Chinese regime’s target list. Founded in 2006, the company tours around the world to display the ancient Chinese culture that prevailed before the communist takeover of China, while highlighting the human rights abuses under the regime’s rule. It has often drawn attention to the ongoing persecution of the meditation group Falun Gong.

    Chen pleaded guilty in July after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. He has spent the 16 months since his arrest in May 2023 in detention, and he will spend another four months in federal custody.

    He will also forfeit $50,000 and face three years of supervised release after serving the full prison term.

    For several months in 2023, Chen had been trying to move a fraudulent whistleblower complaint to help the Chinese Communist Party “topple” Falun Gong, according to court documents. Prosecutors said the whistleblower complaint was “facially deficient” and invoked propaganda rhetoric typical of Chinese authorities.

    During those conversations, Chen emphasized that Chinese leadership was “very generous” in financial support for the plan, according to the court filing.

    “After this-this-this thing is done,” the court document quoted Chen as saying, “reward for work will surely be given at that time.”

    Chen and another co-conspirator, Lin Feng, who served 16 months of detention, paid $5,000 cash bribes to an undercover agent posing as an IRS agent. They promised an additional $50,000 for opening an investigation along with 60 percent of any awards from the complaint if it went through.

    It was “a significant bribe,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Lockard said at the sentencing hearing. He noted that the undercover officer didn’t specify an amount.

    John Chen (L) poses for a photo at an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of Chinese communist rule in Beijing in 2019. Department of Justice

    “The defendant chose the amount,” he said.

    Both Chen and Lin had traveled to Orange County in upstate New York, where Shen Yun is based, to surveil Falun Gong practitioners there, according to a court filing.

    Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the sentencing was a reminder that “the U.S. justice system will hold accountable those who attempt to engage in malicious transnational repression on American soil.”

    “John Chen aligned himself with the PRC government and its goals to harass and intimidate the Falun Gong, a long-standing target of PRC repression. In doing so, Chen boldly attempted to bribe an individual he believed to be an IRS agent to corrupt the administration of the U.S. tax code and pervert the IRS whistleblower program,” he said in a statement on Nov. 19. “This Office will not tolerate efforts like this to repress free speech by targeting critics of the PRC in the United States.”

    U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams addresses the media in New York City on Nov. 2, 2023. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

    Both Chen’s son and his lawyer declined to comment after walking out of the courtroom.

    While Chen’s son, three China-based siblings, two ex-wives, and fiancée have all written letters asking for leniency and describing him as a man who loves the United States, the prosecutors disagreed.

    In a Nov. 5 memo, they argued that a 30-month prison sentence—the longest under the sentencing guideline—would be appropriate because of the seriousness of the case and the need to deter criminal conduct, “particularly in cases of a foreign power’s repression of a disfavored group within the borders of the United States.”

    “The defendant has no mitigating motives or external factors justifying his offense,” the prosecutors wrote, noting that Chen was “not motivated by poverty” and that there was no evidence of Chinese officials’ pressure.

    The curtain call for Shen Yun Performing Arts at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City on Jan 11, 2015. Larry Dai/Epoch Times

    Prosecutors noted that Chen had repeatedly referred to Chinese officials as his “friends” and that during the bribery scheme, he “called them ‘blood brothers,’ and described how ‘we’—Chen and his PRC Government friends—‘started this fight’ against the founder of the Falun Gong ‘twenty, thirty years ago.’”

    The memo displayed photos obtained from Chen’s electronic devices and online accounts showing him at a major military parade in Beijing celebrating the 70th anniversary of Chinese communist rule in 2019. Another photo showed Chen shaking hands with communist leader Xi Jinping.

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    Tyler Durden
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