equity

DEI Makes America Great, or How Trump Ended the American Century

~ Randy Blazak ~ Leave a comment

January 28, 2025

Watching Trump dismantle the very fabric of America is soul crushing. This is the final nail in the coffin of the American Century. Every day another pillar of democracy is attacked by a petulant man with deep-seated inadequacy issues. I fear for the America my daughter will inherit. But if Trump has is way of striking down the 14th Amendment, she may not even be an American.

On day one, Trump ended federal spending on DEI programs, a favorite bogeyman of some straight white men who see efforts for equality as “reverse racism” and a bunch of other complete b.s. that is viewed as threatening their “God-given” right to sit in the privileged seat at the top of the heap. The federal government now has the right to discriminate. I’ve worked in the DEI field for over 15 years and I’ve seen these men whine and whine. As one of those very privileged men, I’ve tried to talk to them, bro to bro, about how embracing the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion makes their own lives better, even more profitable.

But then they got the most insecure bully in the land as their “defender.”

The Trump chaos hits me on a personal level. Besides the fact that all my federal DEI work was just cancelled (so much for affording groceries), much of my work to make workplaces safer spaces for others, including women and people with disabilities, is unraveling. The racist attack on DEI mirrors the racist attack on Affirmative Action in years past. White men fear their hold on power is slipping, and it is. (It should be pointed out that the primary beneficiaries of Affirmative Action have been white women and white men who are veterans.)

I could write a dissertation about how Donald Trump is taking a big steaming dump on the vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. but let me make just two important points about DEI.

DEI programs make workplaces safer and more productive. A famous study in the 2000s found that when employees felt respected for their identities, they were 4.4 times more productive. That means that instead of spending energy dealing with Racist Johnny, Sexist Carl, or Islamophobic Betty, they put that energy towards getting the task at hand done. DEI programs can educate around issues like implicit bias and micro-aggressions that suck the energy out of employees who are members of marginalized groups. Instead of spending time negotiating the minefield of co-worker bias, they can focus on the work, which increases profit.

And these workplaces are more safe. Not just emotionally but literally. I did some work in the local construction field after black construction workers were harassed (including a noose being hung on a construction site). If I was a black worker who had been hazed by fellow white workers, do you think I’m going to concerned about white workers’ safety? Hey, if Cleatus looks like he’s about to step off a third story girder, I might just think, “Oh, let’s just see what happens.” Workers who value inclusion look out for each other. As they say in the military, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. There is great benefit in creating safety by creating equity.

Secondly, DEI programs can help creating workforces and leadership that reflects the population being served. “Merit” is a myth. This fable that skill required should be the only criteria applied ignores the, not decades, but centuries of discrimination that have kept millions of Americans, including straight white men with disabilities, out of career paths that allow them to create intergenerational wealth. As much as it makes MAGA soil their Depends, America is no longer a country for old white men. The piece of the pie that looks like the father on Father Knows Best is rapidly shrinking. There are now more women in the workplace than men (so men better know how to see them as co-workers and not “girls.”). My incredibly diverse Gen Z students don’t even know what the acronym “WASP” stands for. No amount of ICE raids (starring Dr. Phil) will change the changing face of America. Trump can try to kick trans people out of the military, but the American rainbow genie is out of the lamp. DEI programs can help facilitate these welcome changes in a way that sees Americans for who they are, not force them to hide in the attic to allow fragile white men imagine they are in control.

On Inauguration Day, which was also MLK Day, Trump dared to mention Dr. King’s dream. If Trump was a scholar instead of a buffoon, he would know that King believed that his envisioned “symphony of brotherhood” would not be achieved until the institutional levers of oppression were dismantled. DEI programs are a vital tool in getting us there, as part of our broad civil rights goals. My great hope is that Trump, Musk, and the other white men of privilege who have decided to wage war on American diversity, the vital need for equity, and the great cultural and financial benefit of inclusion, are met by a much larger movement that burns their ideology of hate in the ash heap of history. If not, making America the 19th century again will end the promise of American greatness.

Read: A Study Finds That Diverse Companies Produce 19% More Revenue and How Diversity Increases Productivity

I’m Vaccinated! Am I proud or am I ashamed of it?

~ Randy Blazak ~ 2 Comments

March 24, 2021

I got vaccinated about a week ago and I don’t know if I should shout if from the rooftops or keep it on the down low. Never has getting a shot more been more fraught with social complexity. As of today, 127 million Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and about 14% of all Americans are now fully vaccinated. Is everyone who is vaxed as vexed as I am about how to respond? Let’s weigh this out.

On the one side, after a year of living in fear, according to the scientists, I am fully protected from the coronavirus and, apparently, the more infectious variants.

On the other side, those scientists can’t tell me if I can still pass COVID on to others.

On the one side, the more people who are vaccinated, the fewer hosts the virus has, slowing the pandemic down to something that starts to look like the mythical herd immunity.

On the other side, it’s really clear that the social inequities that marked higher infection and death rates for some populations are all reflected in who has access to the vaccine. My white privilege pays off in white life expectancy.

On the one side, I can stand as defender of science and encourage other intelligent people to get their shots as soon as possible.

On the other side, I’m aware there are a large number of idiots, including at least 50% of Trump voters, who said they won’t get the vaccine because they think COVID is a hoax. And those un-immunized idiots will birth mutant variants and put immunocompromised people (2.7% of Americans) at risk of infection and death.  (Dear idiots, Trump has been vaccinated and has said you should be, too.)

On one side, I don’t have to panic if I actually use a pen from the “dirty pen” holder when I’m signing the check at the coffee shop.

On the other side, these vaccines came out awfully fast. As a scientist, I’m bothered when corners are cut. And am I going to need another booster shot in a year? And when can my kid get vaccinated? And any info about long-term side effects? And…

I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on sunny Saturday afternoon at the Portland Airport Economy Parking Lot. It was an impressive set up, like driving into Disneyland, with hundreds of volunteers donating their time to help put a dent in this pandemic that has killed nearly 3 million people on the planet (most here in the dirty USA). My first thought was about how people who didn’t have cars were going to get their shot in this very car-centric vaccination effort. (I didn’t even have to get out of the RAV-4.) Actually, my first thought was how lucky I was to get a spot so soon. K-12 educators are just getting vaccinated now. I think college educators like me are scheduled later, somewhere between Jiffly Lube workers and TikTok dancers.

A friend in the military had a vaccine opening and was already full of Moderna, so he offered it to me. I passed up on one of these “jump the queue” openings a month ago because I knew there were more deserving recipients. But, after hearing Dr. Anthony Fauci say, “If you have a chance to get a shot, get the shot,” I decided to play my educator-parent of a young child-I’m probably older than you and therefore at risk-card. This decision was made easier by the fact that there are reports that large numbers of vaccines have gone unused because of a disjoint in the demand and supply chain.

But it’s been clear that there is massive inequities in this vaccine rollout. African-Americans, who make up 12% of the U.S. population, are only 8% of those who have received a vaccine, according to the CDC. Since most vaccine scheduling is done online, the technological divide is hitting the offline hard. This includes the elderly, poor people, people with physical and mental disabilities, the unhoused, and those that live in rural areas with limited internet access. Those low vaccination rates will translate into higher infection and death rates.

I thought about this as I was on the wild ride of my “one and done” Johnson & Johnson poke. Eight hours after my shot, I was hit by the Corona Express, a quick trip into the “this what you get” black hole of side effects. I had the chills so bad I thought the teeth were going to bounce out my head. It all passed later the following day, and I felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. I had a great support system to hold my hand. The rumors of heavy side effects might make some folks who live a lone a little more vaccine hesitant. I know I was lucky, but it didn’t feel like it while I was sweating bullets.

I lecture a lot about privilege and how privilege should engage a sense of responsibility, not guilt. But there is a part of me that feels guilty that I got the vaccine when I know there are more deserving people who don’t have a friend who can put them on the immunization guest list. But maybe my shame should be reserved for the system that creates so many institutional injustices that play out in human suffering. It’s not an exaggeration to say that, in America, the best predictor of your life expectancy is the zip code you live in. I’m ashamed of that.

Ultimately, we’re all taking it on faith that the mass vaccination experiment will solve this new health problem. It’s already done a good job of adding to an old one.