What is DEI?

A couple months ago, someone asked me if we should change our functional title from diversity equity and inclusion to something else, given the stigma it has engendered.

And my response was, "if we surrender the title of our work to bigots, racists, hatemongers, and others who would seek to weaponize it against what it actually means and represents, where would it stop?"

If we changed our name only to inclusion and equity or JEDI or some other acronym, would that actually stop people from weaponizing that term as well?

The answer, of course, is no.

This all happened before the outrage with SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, who famously blundered in their attempt to remove Equity from their DEI strategy .

This ongoing sage over who gets to define the phrase has left me wondering how people attempt to wrest back control of words and concepts when someone else has tried to or successfully hijacked a phrase. And in doing so, what does the original phrase mean or stand for?

Diversity.

"The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders , sexual orientations , etc." (source: Oxford Languages)

Equity.

"The term "equity" refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality: Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances." (Source: NACE)

Inclusion.

"Inclusion is the practice of including and accommodating people who often face discrimination and exclusion due to race, gender, ability, sexuality, or identity." (Source: verywellmind )

Hmm. Put them all together, and it sounds like DEI represents fairness and efforts to remedy discrimination and ensuring a decent mix of backgrounds.

If that's what DEI stands for, count me. I won't let anyone try this hogwash with "didn't earn it" attempt to keep this narrative up.

As Natalie S. Burke put it in her op-ed on MSNBC , "The acronym DEI has been weaponized by people who feel threatened by the racial diversification of America and its leadership; the success of women in corporate and public sector jobs; the mere presence of people with disabilities in the workplace and in society; as well as the increased visibility of LGBTQ+ people and their families.?They perceive that reality as an existential crisis."

To those who would attempt to weaponize or redefine or misrepresent what DEI is, get ready for the fight of a lifetime. We will not roll over or capitulate to threats or false stories or exaggerations or slander.

Those of us who do this work and our allies and supporters will be on the right side of history.