Associated Press blasts efforts to target diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

Apparently, dismantling controversial diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices or efforts in higher education is a bridge too far for the mainstream media. The Associated Press went all-in to defend DEI against state lawmakers’ attempts to remove DEI from taxpayer-funded colleges and universities.

The Associated Press headline read, “GOP states targeting diversity, equity efforts in higher ed.” The article claimed, “Republican lawmakers in at least a dozen states have proposed more than 30 bills this year targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education.” The news outlet said that anti-DEI measures “have become the latest flashpoint in a cultural battle involving race, ethnicity and gender that has been amplified by prominent Republicans.”

Some of the states that the Associated Press reported on were Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, Texas, and West Virginia, where state lawmakers proposed to block state spending on DEI.

The article continued, “The bills are an outgrowth of recent Republican attempts to limit critical race theory, a viewpoint that racism is historically systemic in the nation’s institutions and continues today to maintain the dominance of white people in society.” It name-dropped conservative activists like Christopher Rufo, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and conservative organizations to portray it in a negative light as a partisan campaign.

Yet the news outlet did not acknowledge the reality that political independents appear to be on board with rooting out Critical Race Theory and DEI from public schools and higher education, based on school board elections in the 2022 election cycle.

Instead, it reported that DEI offices “offices often spearhead services tailored to students of various races, genders, sexual orientations, cultures and abilities. Some college administrators also consider diversity and equity when admitting students, providing scholarships or deciding which faculty to hire and promote.” The Associated Press mentioned, in a tepid manner, how “applicants may be asked not only for resumes and references, but also for statements about how they would advance DEI efforts.” These statements, which conservatives deride as ideologically-driven pledges, may determine who would be hired and who would not be hired.

Also, nowhere in the article did the Associated Press provide examples of DEI offices going too far in their ideological dogma, such as Stanford University’s DEI officer shaming and shutting down an invited guest speaker who works as a federal judge.

It is as if the left-wing higher education system and the mainstream media do not recognize that DEI offices and efforts are diametrically opposed by the average working American. It is a reminder why, for years, conservatives railed against higher education as being in a bubble or “Ivory Tower,” as they are out-of-touch with the average American.

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