Stacey Abrams Claims ‘Attacks’ on DEI Are Attacks on Democracy

April 30, 2024

This week, former Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams, took to MSNBC to discuss what the Democratic Party’s strategy should be for 2024. Unsurprisingly, the topics of race, elections, and democracy came up.

Ms. Abrams detailed what she believes to be one of the biggest threats to democracy. Instead of naming the left’s usual suspect for the threat to democracy – Donald Trump – Ms. Abrams chose a different threat.

According to Stacey Abrams, it’s the latest surge in rejecting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout American institutions that threatens to dismantle democracy. Let’s look at her argument to see if it holds any value.

DEI is hard to kill

Like many progressives, Stacey Abrams is unhappy with the latest moves made by Republican governors to shut down DEI offices. During her interview with Al Sharpton, Stacey Abrams said:

“What we know is that the attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion, DEI, is an attack on democracy, it is an attack on education…”

According to Ms. Abrams’ statement, shutting down DEI offices on college campuses hinders educational progress and threatens to destroy democracy. The reality of what DEI does to education and democracy is much different.

Unfortunately, even with the measures to eradicate DEI in states like Florida and Texas, the harmful ideology still has a firm grip on the throats of higher education.

Below is a sampling of current DEI hiring requirements at various universities:

  • Suffolk University seeks a Civil Rights professor with an “intersection of law and race, gender, and sexual orientation” experience. Additionally, the candidate must also explain how they’d advance the school’s “commitment to diversity and inclusion through their teaching, scholarship or service.”

  • Syracuse is looking for a director of “academic & bar success” who will emphasize the cultivation of “Diversity and Inclusive Excellence.”

  • UCLA Law is looking for professors who have prior experience supporting “equity and diversity” and are required to submit an “official statement of contributions to diversity.”

  • NYU Law seeks a scholar to “lead a new Defending DEI Initiative” on campus.

It’s hard to claim that DEI is dying in education when it is still so prevalent in college hiring practices.

American Nightmare

In her argument for DEI ideology, Ms. Abrams invoked the names of two of her fellow liberals as proof that DEI works. She went on to say that attacks on DEI are:

“…an attack on how our economy works because what Senator Ossoff and Senator Warnock represent are pathways to the American Dream…”

Name-dropping two senators who are associated with groups considered marginalized as examples of the “American Dream” is hardly proof that DEI provides the same for Americans at large. In fact, the economy under President Joe Biden has many millennials and younger giving up on the American Dream.

Owning a home is more expensive than ever before. Saving for retirement has become more challenging as inflation outpaces wage earnings month after month.

DEI initiatives do not create pathways to the American dream. Rather, they create separation offramps, sectioning Americans off into convenient demographic categories.

Most often, those categories are broadly defined as whatever is the preferred minority group at the time. Meanwhile all others are oppressors due to not fitting in or falling in line.

Take statistics professor David Porter of North Carolina State University. He was punished for voicing DEI concerns within his field and department.

Or anthropology professor Elizabeth Weiss of San Jose State University. She was locked out of her department for daring to go against the DEI cult.

DEI isn’t used to bring people together and lift them up. It’s used to pinpoint dissenters and root them out.

Painful proof points

Ms. Abrams went on to claim that Senators Ossoff and Warnock are:

“…proof points and those proof points scare those who want this world to be narrow and restrictive.”

Since Ms. Abrams brings up proof points, it’s only fair to bring up a few of my own. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), delivered harsh results.

Only 22% of 8th graders are proficient in civics, and only 13% are proficient in U.S. history. That same grade recorded the lowest scores in math and reading in a decade.

Looking at college-aged students, it’s estimated that 67% of major universities require students to take some form of DEI courses regardless of their preferred area of study. And yet, according to the recent Campus Expression Survey, a record number of students are reluctant to discuss controversial issues in courses where the topics are relevant:

  • 47% reluctant to discuss Israeli-Palestinian conflict

  • 45% reluctant to discuss politics

  • 30% reluctant to discuss religion

To say that those who speak out against DEI want the world to be “narrow and restrictive” is what some would say is, “the pot calling the kettle black.” Nothing is more narrow and restrictive in thought than DEI.

Wise words

Stacey Abrams opened her thoughts on DEI with this gem:

“We have to remember that built into every victory are the seeds of defeat, and built into every defeat are the seeds of victory.”

Eloquent words from the great Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It’s ironic that the most prolific election denier of modern times would offer wisdom on how best to handle defeat.

Regardless, she is right. Conservatives and those who believe in freedom and diversity of thought should be careful not to rest on the few wins they’ve achieved against DEI.

DEI will survive whether offices dedicated to it remain open. Much like the virus of terrorism; it is built on hate, and if there’s anything the human race has proven adept at, it’s hatred.

DEI is an attack on democracy, and its persistence has chipped away at every American institution. Sorry, Stacey, but as Elon Musk has pointed out, DEI must die in order for democracy to once again prosper.