TRUMP’S WAR ON DEI REACHES NC
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
President Donald Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies has reached at least two agencies of North Carolina state government, but may not stop there.
State Auditor Dave Boliek and NC Labor Commissioner Luke Farley announced last week that their agencies will discontinue all internal DEI policies effective immediately. Farley stated that DEI will no longer be used as “a core measurement for evaluating NCDOL ( Dept. of Labor) employee performance.”
Instead, managers and supervisors were directed to “hire and evaluate employees based on merit and on their ability to fulfill our mission to protect the health, safety and well-being of North Carolinians.”
Farley added that his ultimate goal was to “ hire and retain qualified, professional individuals who will provide excellent service to our state."
Republican State Auditor Boliek actually campaigned on removing DEI from state government, when he defeated Democratic incumbent Jessica Holmes. Boliek was responsible for the discontinuation of DEI at UNC-Chapel when he chaired the Trustee Board’s Finance Committee.
At the time, he charged that DEI was discriminatory, and unnecessarily cost the university money.
In his statement last week, Boliek said he also was conducting an internal review of his office to eliminate DEI from all policies, “…including any training, [and] performance requirements.”
Both Boliek and Farley announced their opposition to DEI just four days after Republican Donald Trump announced during his inaugural address that he was eliminating DEI from the federal government, and terminating all DEI hires from employment. He also urged all federal employments to expose any DEI employees they know of, or else face punishment themselves.
Here in North Carolina, despite the actions of Boliek and Farley, Gov. Josh Stein has expressed his support for DEI in state government.
-300
AS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
BEGINS, TRUMP’S WAR ON DEI
COMES WITH IT
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Black History Month begins February 1st on Saturday, but given Pres. Trump’s immediate assault on all things involving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) after his Jan. 20th inauguration, even its future is in question now.
Beyond his executive order to scrap any and all policies involving DEI in the federal government, including all DEI hirings and programs designed to help communities of color in federal contracting, Trump’s DEI ban has already removed one piece of cherished African-American history - a training film featuring the Tuskegee Airmen.
Published reports say as a result of Trump’s war on DEI, the U.S. Air Force has discontinued training film that included lessons about the legendary Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). That means any references to the heralded airmen who courageously and successfully escorted U.S. bombers on their missions during World War II during basic training are now removed.
The same for any references to the U.S. female pilots who took part during that war effort.
The nonprofit group, Tuskegee Airmen Inc. immediately expressed ther opposition to the new policy, saying in a statement, “We believe the content of these courses does not promote one category of service member or citizen over another, They are simply a part of American military history that all service members should be made aware of.”
The statement continued, “As a nonprofit organization, we are required to remain apolitical. The opinions we express today reflect our values as a military heritage organization, committed to telling a full and accurate history of all service members of World War II, regardless of race, gender or national origin.”
Also, recently just before Trump returned to office, Congress renamed a post office in the Brentwood section of Raleigh after deceased World War II U.S. Army veteran and Raleigh native Millie Dunn Veasey, who served with the all-black female 6888th battalion.
The 6888 was the Army’s central Post Office directory. Recently Netflix aired a movie about the battalion titled “The Six Triple Eight,” produced by Tyler Perry and starring actress Kerry Washington.
Before he left office, President Joe Biden signed the legislation, sponsored by Congresswoman Deborah Ross, to rename the post office in Raleigh after Veasey, who was also a graduate of St. Augustine’s University.
Millie Dunn Veasey died at age 100 in March 2018.
NC political and legal analyst Prof. Ire Joyner says Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion is one that endangers the African-American community.
“Articulating policy proposals do not change any existing laws; yet they do articulate what the Trump team is attempting to do during the next four years,” says Joyner, also a law professor at North Carolina Central University’s School Law in Durham.
“This articulation must be met with aggressive and dedicated responses from every African American and those organizations which are devoted to protecting Civil and Constitutional Rights. In that regard, African Americans must come together to fight against these Trump efforts. Litigation will have to be a large part of this struggle, but the enactment of protective legislation at the federal and state levels will have to also be pursued.”
Prof. Joyner continued, ”The proposed Trump policies must be challenged at every turn and our community and allies must rise to this challenge as we were able to do during the Civil Rights Movement. The Trump administration can not win these battles unless we (African Americans and our allies) fail to vigorously resist these efforts.”
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment