Kendrick Lamar, the only rapper awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and who has won 22 Grammys throughout his entire rap career, recently gave a Super Bowl performance that has since been hailed as one of the most “revolutionary” Super Bowl performances in NFL history.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Harvard Law School graduate and the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, has been deemed “unanimously well qualified” by the American Bar Association.
Kamala Harris, the first female vice president of the U.S. and one of the only presidential candidates to have worked in all three branches of government, has also been honored as “the first woman and the first African American attorney general in [the state of] California,” according to Iowa State University’s Archives of Political Communication.
So, why have some unfairly disparaged all these people as nothing more than a “DEI hire” when they are each breaking barriers and setting records in their respective fields?
DEI stands for “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and has been used as the basis for initiatives in the workplace focused on providing equal opportunities and jobs to marginalized groups. DEI initiatives have been in effect for decades and originated during the Civil Rights Movement. They have been proven to strengthen business outcomes and maximize profits, and they have also been proven to improve relations in the workplace by increasing employee retention, team-building, safety, and empathy toward others in the workplace.
In short, it’s no secret that DEI initiatives help create a prosperous workplace environment while advancing the careers of those belonging to historically marginalized communities, specifically women and people of color. So, why is DEI being used to attack qualified people from those same groups now?
In recent years, DEI initiatives have been politicized by right-wing politicians and organizations to diminish the achievements and intellect of marginalized groups. It particularly resurfaced during the 2024 Presidential Election, when the term was unfairly directed at Kamala Harris to portray her as unfit to serve as president. From Donald Trump stating that there are “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott being blamed and labeled as nothing more than a “DEI mayor” for the collapse of a major bridge near the city (even though it was an isolated incident he had nothing to do with), “DEI” has shifted from a healthy and widely respected organizational framework into a slur, a phrase that racists now openly use to describe people of color in high positions.
Saying that Kendrick Lamar was only asked to perform at the Super Bowl because he is Black diminishes his lengthy list of achievements. Saying that Ketanji Brown Jackson was only nominated by 46th President Joe Biden because she is Black completely dismisses her impressive curriculum vitae, education, and intellect. Saying that Harris, Scott, and other highly qualified individuals were only hired due to their racial or ethnic background insinuates that they are inherently less competent due to their skin color. It also implies that white people are intrinsically more qualified, furthers racial stereotypes, further develops an “in-group” and an “out-group” in a country where racism is already rampant, and refuses to acknowledge the achievements of people of color as even valid.
In other words, “DEI” has become a subtle slur, the less harsh yet equally damaging equivalent, and listen, that hurts. The phrase has now become widespread and normalized. I had read countless news articles before where Harris was blatantly referred to as a “DEI hire” and felt a similar appalled shock, but it wasn’t until I heard someone I knew refer to her as a “DEI hire” in real-time that I felt completely disheartened. As a student of color working hard to chase after every possible opportunity, it sucks knowing that one day, I could have done it all right — just to still be chalked up to nothing more than a “DEI hire.”
So, on behalf of everyone mentally preparing themselves to hear this phrase eventually directed at them in an unabashed act of hatred, the next time you hear that unfortunate saying, “DEI hire,” shut it down. This kind of rhetoric only benefits a certain group of people who already have a leg up in society. While we have little control over reinstating DEI initiatives in businesses already being ordered to dismantle them, we can still make small changes in our daily lives by pushing back against harmful rhetoric.