GOP lawmakers vote to replace “DEI” in state government with “UIE”

NC Newsline

It’s a sad commentary on the power of the right-wing misinformation machine in modern America that simple and enormously positive concepts like diversity, equity and inclusion have been twisted so that some perceive them in a negative light.

What’s next on the hit list? Words like love, tolerance and common ground?

Tragically, however, as North Carolina Republican legislators made clear last week, they’re serious about this perverse crusade – so serious that they recently passed legislation that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion in state government.

The bill is so ill-conceived and poorly written that it would likely prohibit state agencies from recruiting employees at women’s colleges and HBCU’s.

Even programs to help accommodate the needs of veterans and people with disabilities would likely be unlawful.

The bottom line: The sponsors of this legislation claim that their attacks on DEI are about promoting equal opportunity. In truth they’re about promoting three words that are the opposite of DEI – call it UIE: uniformity, inequity and exclusion.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.