Garth H. Sleight, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Miles Community College
I have observed two predominant ways by which society expresses the acronym that uses the fourth, fifth, and ninth letters of the alphabet. The first is what I call uppercase ‘DEI,’ which stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The other version is lowercase ‘dei,’ which stands for divisiveness, extremism, and intolerance.
The heartbreaking tragedy is the hubristic travesty that the voices of the paragons of upper-case ‘DEI,’ who are attempting to engage in sensible, collaborative conversations, are too often drowned out by the strident, combative cacophony of the pariahs of lowercase ‘dei.’
Uppercase ‘DEI’ is an admirable aspiration for our society.
Lowercase ‘dei’ is a deplorable degradation of our society.
Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General during the John F. Kennedy administration – sixty-plus years ago! – uttered this profoundly prescient lachrymose lament:
“What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”
Extremism abounds on both ends of the ideological spectrum. As long as the extremists insist on hijacking the podium to impose their heat-generating diatribe instead of inviting light-generating dialogue, society will continue on its inevitable path to self-destruction. Jimi Hendrix offered the perfect solution when he said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” It really is that simple. Will it ever happen? I, for one, certainly hope so.
