The Demonization of DEI

What they're really attacking is EMPATHY

Amid a flurry of firings, freezes, and fear-mongering fresh out of the gate last week, the First Felon took his acrimonious axe to DEI. We want to focus on this, because the act was more than him emulating Putin, extolling whiteness, elevating maleness, or eliminating gayness. He also gave a tacit opportunity for corporate America to weigh in for it, or weigh in against it, and many took positions. And an equally important ripple effect of Trump’s dismantling of DEI was that it served notice that fairness shall be what the Dear Leader says it is, that compassion is a form of weakness, and that empathy is - well, let’s be honest here - Trump has no fucking idea what empathy is. And that’s our point.

As days move forward toward additional acts of divisiveness and cruelty, empathy is something we must resolve to NEVER lessen or forget. We must be the Anti-Cruel.

Most of us understand that DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It is an organizational framework. It seeks to promote fair treatment through the full participation of all people, particularly focused on groups who are historically underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability. It’s not a quota system. It doesn’t try to skew a playing field - on the contrary, it seeks to level one which is unfairly skewed to begin with. It’s designed to add productivity through opportunity, to improve results, and to foster teamwork. DEI is way more about equality and acknowledgement, than it is about affirmative action. So, WTF can be wrong with that?

OS (Outspoken): The existence of DEI programs went against their theory that racism and misogyny don’t exist. That’s the whitewashing that is the underpinning of MAGA, so of course, they went right the fuck after it.

SS (Shallow State): And one reason they went after it so quickly, is because it was an easy target. Their base loves when Trump demonizes things put forth by the Left, and he likes to demonize things that are cultural and unclear, so they can be described in short and catchy ways through sound bites. DEI, like “woke,” was so simple.

OS: Yep. The whole GOP does like that short and easy repetition, because they’re speaking to a simple audience, and they’re speaking from the fascist playbook. I remember when DeSantis repeated the word “woke” 6 times in a single sentence. And when Loeffler was robotic, repeating the word “radical” in her debate with now Senator Warnock.

SS: Their audience is conditioned to react emotionally to repetitive sound bites.

OS: Makes them salivate, like Pavlov’s dogs.

SS: Good analogy. Same visceral reaction. Remember, it’s easier to feel than to think.

Buzz Words and Sound Bites

The political Right uses buzz words and buzz terms far more effectively than the Left. Trump is fond of insults, slang, and nicknames, and feels it helps brand him as one of the people. MAGA itself is an acronym that serves to separate the “Trump believers” from other Republicans, who - if they don’t sufficiently believe - are branded as RINOs.

The political Right is also adept at hijacking and mischaracterizing buzz terms initiated by the Left. Remember Global Warming, and the GOP idiots who brought snowballs into the House chamber to refute it? This led to a renaming to Climate Change. After George Floyd was murdered, people took to the streets with protest signs that read: Defund the Police, and this became another term whose meaning got undermined and corrupted.

And remember Critical Race Theory? This was a straight Right-Wing concoction that nobody ever really understood, because it wasn’t even anchored in a hard definition.

DEI is short. It’s three simple initials. It’s cultural. To the indoctrinated, it says woke without saying woke. MAGA doesn’t care what it stands for or what it professes to do. They care that it’s something the Left likes, that their Fuhrer thinks is bad. So simple.

So much of MAGA is that simple - emotionalizing cultural issues, rewriting the meaning of words and phrases, then demonizing them for political gain.

Political Demonization

First, Trump demonizes the status quo. Then he demonizes those in charge. Then he uses newly hopped-up senses of grievance to get supporters to acquiesce that everything has gone to shit, the people to blame are “others,” and only he can fix it. He likes to portray himself as anti-establishment, anti-deep-state, and a disruptor, which, when emotionalized, is what he uses to wield a toxic agenda that hounds, scapegoats and dehumanizes entire groups of people. Truth is, he IS the deep state.

DEI has been politically demonized by the loud, the boorish, the disaffected, the bigoted, and the aggrieved. It’s done with buzz words, intolerance, and ignorance.

If we let them demonize that which is democratic and good, we give authoritarianism a boost, and neo-Nazism a foothold. This also plays to the religious fanatics, who are hypocrites in bypassing that which Jesus really taught (like blessing the weak and the meek), so that they can conveniently deify the lies. Political demonization empowers bans, freezes, and executive overreach. And all of those things relegate empathy as less important, because too many of us will become desensitized or numb. We must NOT become numb. We must NOT become perpetually exhausted.

Let us pick a few anti-DEI companies - always add Tesla to the list - and swear off them. Hit them in their racist pocketbooks. And in Banters fashion, flip the script to the positive, and choose to reward companies who had the sense to do the right thing.

We are the correct. We are the smarter. We are the thinkers. We are the sincere. Together, we have economic power. And, we also have something Trump the Human Void will never have. Empathy.

Empathy

Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist. It’s a very serious syndrome comprised of multiple behavioral disorders - narcissism, sociopathy, paranoia, and sadism.

He doesn’t feel shame because he CAN’T. He doesn’t feel empathy because he HAS NONE. It would be easier to explain “color” to a sightless person than to explain empathy to Trump.

His followers, by and large, do not have this disorder. The vast majority do experience empathy in their personal lives. But they suffer from malignant normality, in which they see or perceive reality through the lens of their leader. It impacts their politics and world view more than it impacts their day to day lives, and there are varying degrees. The easier descriptor is collective narcissism. Easier still, is “cult.”

We submit that one of the most important things we must do during Trump 2.0 is to remember empathy. Preserve it. Feel it. Enact it. It’s integral to the resisting process. As we said above: Let us be the Anti-Cruel and support the less fortunate. We must be allies to sexual assault survivors, to LGBTQ+, people of color, immigrants, the poor, the ill, the disabled. Use any privilege you have to defend those who have none. This will preserve DEI, even when our government, president, and Corporate America does not.

“When you worship power, compassion and mercy look like sins.” — Benjamin Cremer, a progressive pastor

Corporate America Speaks to DEI

At the end of last year, several businesses, including Walmart, began divesting from their diversity efforts, including commitments to stop participating in Pride parades and diversity surveys. More recently, Amazon removed several mentions of DEI and LGBTQ+ from its “Policy Positions” page. McDonald’s announced that it would retire its “Commitment to DEI pledge,” and Target would no longer seek minority-owned suppliers with the same priority.

Yet other businesses have stayed true to their commitment to DEI initiatives, including Costco, whose shareholders voted down an anti-DEI measure. And the beauty brand E.l.f. has ratcheted up its commitment to DEI.

Show them you appreciate them. Support those who support DEI.

The Pro DEI Companies listed are subject to change. Some of these businesses have donated to Republicans. This image is downloadable and printable.

Remember: They’re coming for your empathy. Don’t let them anywhere near it.

IN CLOSING, our Banters collaboration will continue to present a more complete picture of what we’ll face ahead with frank exchanges that never pull punches. We’re resisters. And resistance needs focus and perspective. Outspoken HATES Trump, pure and simple. Shallow State says that what he really hates, is TrumpISM, the apparatus, and the fact that truth is being trampled. For more info on who we are check out our Welcome Issue, and follow us on Bluesky and yeah, Twitter.

Credits: Art by Outspoken

COMING UP in future issues of Banters:

The Trump Cult - WTF - maybe we're asking the wrong question

Fear is the point, but the Grift is the goal

What happened to Happiness, and why don’t Americans pursue it anymore?