What Remains When You Eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

I knew he was trouble when Christopher Rufo wrote, in March 2021, that diversity, equity and inclusion were euphemisms “deployed by its supporters” to describe critical race theory. He defined equity, which is central to the goal of public education, as “little more than reformulated Marxism” and said it would bring the end to “individual rights, equality under the law, federalism, and freedom of speech.” He said America’s institutions, like public schools, had “become monocultures: dogmatic, suspicious, and hostile to a diversity of opinion” and “their “equity and inclusion’ departments serve as political offices, searching for and stamping out any dissent from the official orthodoxy.” He encouraged individuals to “shrug off the scorn of the elites” and join a grass roots mobilization to defeat the forces of critical race theory. 

In the world of public education, equity is a central premise. Rather than treat every student the same, since the days of the one room school house, teachers differentiate their instruction in accordance with a child’s needs. Equity and inclusion are the cornerstones of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides federal protections to children with disabilities and enshrines their right to a “free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.” But equity and inclusion extend beyond students with disabilities. Public schools educate all children and their goal is to provide each individual what they need to have a successful future.

A simple explanation for equity: if a child can not read the chalkboard (or, these days, the digital white board) they get glasses. The entire class doesn’t get glasses (that would be equality), glasses are only given to the child who needs them (equity). Likewise, schools do not provide reading interventions for students who excel at reading. Is that Marxism? In fact, Florida’s Education Funding Formula (FEFP) is designed around the need for equity, funding individuals according to their needs.

Now Rufo has Governor Ron DeSantis’ ear. Rufo stood on the stage with DeSantis when he signed HB7, the “Stop Woke Act,” and recently was appointed to the Board of New College, a small, highly rated, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, which he plans to turn into a “public university that reflects conservative values.” When he wrote the need to lay siege to public institutions, he wasn’t kidding.

This week DeSantis announced  legislation to push back “against the tactics of liberal elites who suppress free thought in the name of identity politics and indoctrination” and eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs in our state colleges and universities, which he described as “politicized bureaucracies.”

So, like Critical Race Theory, they have changed the meaning of words and attacked programs because of what they now say those words mean. Already the effects are being seen and families whose children have unique educational needs or are from historically marginalized communities should be concerned.

What is the opposite of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

Diversity antonym: uniformity, sameness, homogeneity

Equity antonym: inequity, unfairness, discrimination

Inclusion antonym: exclusion, elimination, segregation

Is this what we want in our publicly funded colleges and universities? Is this what we want in our public schools?

Asking for Florida’s 1 million college and university students.