Diversity, Inclusion and Equity: The Greatest Debate on Martin Luther King, Jr.

February 16, 2024

Dear Fellow Americans:

I, today, appeal to the matters of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (or for what I named the "New-3" or "N-3") practice in regard to Higher Education, including PreK-12, and programs, colleges and universities, respectively.

As an ordinary citizen of color and a southerner, I, first and foremost, speak from good faith experiences and reflections. Four generations of education and community leaders mark this appeal secondly as a sort of redemption song and later on a regret. It, subsequently, gathers over five decades of educational development through various classrooms as a student and a practitioner, and in my cases in the local, state, and federal courts, and advocacy at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.

The nature and circumstances of this appeal are very real in our twenty first century civil society today. That is, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity ("New-3" or "N-3") is just another sordid form of Affirmative Action or the so-called notions on positive discrimination. This practice is also a public interest policy to support our so-called disadvantaged individuals and groups and to bridge the gap between disparities in education, government, and housing -- naming a few.

Claiming some authority now on the "New-3" or "N-3" is simply improper. But to acknowledge the systematic problem is understanding the ways and means of our twenty first century so-called "free society" on public record. Education is a non-censored learning process in comprehension as well as interpretation. Yet, American slavery establishes in a very clear sense the above-referenced new terminology, in which I named "New-3" or "N-3," or also known as Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in our North American culture beginning in 1640.

Black American slaves were diverse in selection; and then they were included in the dominant white American society. Thereafter, black slaves were auctioned as equity in forms of economic growth and traded across the globe without prejudice until the Slave Trade Act in 1794. Simply put: Black American slaves gave birth to Wall Street. This Financial District is located along eight city blocks in Lower Manhattan in New York City.

From economics to equal rights protections, being a black American today is more of a challenge in 2024 than any other time in North America. The struggle in the public classrooms for many, if not more than a few blacks, is supported by claim. According to the new Lumina Foundation Gallup Poll in 2023, "black college students have lower six-year completion rate for any type of degree or certificate program than any other racial or ethnic group because of racial discrimination."

The question before us today is: How did Martin Luther King, Jr. combat and apply Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity ("New-3" or "N-3") in higher education?

Martin Luther King, Jr. is, and was, a black man. An attractive, articulate, and well-dressed son and grandson of southern preachers. Middle-class and stable: King is an example on how methodically Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity or my new terminology "New-3" or "N-3" can be damaging when it is applied to some, if not all, black Americans. Such a conclusion is reasonably true for school children in public education and students in higher education.

King is, and was, a master plagiarist during his entire lifespan. This constant act of borrowing others words verbatim without proper citations is found in his dissertation, A Comparison of the Conception of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman, and in many, if not all, of his other writings and speeches. For example, the famous I Have A Dream speech has familiar passages of a former speech delivered by Hon. Archibald Carey, Jr., -- a prominent lawyer, judge, clergy, and statesmen from Illinois -- at the 1952 National Republican Convention. Also, some of his quotes are similar to the words of Mahatma Gandhi (a notable lawyer and human rights activist from India) and Buddhism.

It is a well-settled fact that the oral tradition of most southern black preachers is to borrow words from the so-called Holy Bible in sermons and speeches. But, academically, to use or copy a person's work without proper citation or permission is the greatest fopaux. In this instant case at Boston University in 1955, Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded his Ph.D. in Theology. King soon began the gallant paper trail of systematic oppression in higher education under our twenty first century "N-3" reform. The "New-3" or "N-3" concept (in my mind and in this good faith opinion) is, and was, apparent way back then.

Answer: King coped and doped the higher educational systems in North America.

I, however, believe that King was fully aware of his continuous misuse of and borrowed phrases, articles, and speeches due to a persistent pattern over the course of his life until 1968. Now, in 2024, this "clear and present" material evidence on "New-3" or "N-3" exposes the infamous fall of the former and first black President at Harvard University, Claudine Gay. Others, non-black, are subject to this claim. But this issue is King's adaption to his academics beyond The Civil Rights Movement.

The "New-3" or "N-3" is: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity by design establish the fundamental framework to enhance all people, nations, and tribes as a public interest policy. This planning, preparation, and productivity, of course, appear to still fail due to obviously a racial animus.

(I) In Brown v. Board of Education, 34 U.S. 483 (1954), the United States Supreme Court in 1954 rules in a landmark decision that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional then.

(II) In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. 181 (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 rules in a landmark decision that race-based in affirmative action programs in college admissions is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Equal Protection Clause now.

So, the "New-3" or "N-3" allows students of color, particularly black Americans, to become "suspects" in life long before they enter a classroom or courtroom based simply on race on its face. Or so, it seems.

Today, many black Americans, who opt to attend mostly white institutions, are often patronized like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1955 at Boston University and Dr. Claudine Gay in 2024 at The President and Fellows at Harvard University. This systematic generational problem appears to stem from the same old "separate but equal" standard based on Jim Crow forms of governing mass populations. This governing is done through a caste system full of oppression and regression.

Blacks, who know better, must do better by an example.

I, with more than fifty four years of following in the paths for four generations, know that with newer technologies and higher degrees, people cannot see through the branches of these trees.

L. Jacqueline Gillard (pronounced Jhill-r), Humanitarian

? 2024 L. Jacqueline Gillard. All Rights Reserved.