[IMPORTANT: Make this 4 times longer with much more detail]
Photo by Christina Morillo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-writing-on-dry-erase-board-1181398/ By Dr. Angel Jones February 27, 2025 – 06:00 Growing up, most kids fear the boogeyman, or El Cuco if you grew up in a Latinx household. But what no one tells you is that some adults have their own boogeyman, and his name is DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). It’s the big bad wolf that they think is gonna huff and puff and blow their bigoted house down. But contrary to popular belief, DEI will not blow their house down, but it will blow up their spot by exposing how they use their privilege to the detriment of those who don’t stand beside them on their unearned pedestal. While some people protect their homes with alarm systems, bigots use DEI bans. But why do they hate DEI so much? Because they have falsely, and ignorantly, synonymized DEI with other words that make them uncomfortable, like Black, queer, or immigrant. It’s partly because they fear what they do not understand, but the truth is – they hate us ‘cause they ain’t us. Which is ironic for me to write as an Afro-Latina for a Latina publication given the countless ways Latinxs cause us to feel like we ain’t one of them. Yet here I am, writing unapologetically, because I am secure in who I am and will never be silenced or siloed by anti-Blackness. When thinking about DEI bans, it’s easy to focus on the sins of cisgender, heterosexual, rich, able-bodied, white men. However, although its opponents do, the hatred for DEI doesn’t discriminate based on race, gender, sexuality, or any other identity. Bigotry is alive and well, and because of it, many marginalized people are not. Our physical lives remain in danger, but so do our personal and professional lives. This has become even more evident for me as an Afro-Latina educator working in academia during a time where protecting and valuing me has become more optional than ever. Over 50 years ago, Malcolm X said that the most unprotected, disrespected, and neglected person in the United States is the Black woman, and I would argue that it remains true today, Afro-Latinas included. I also want to uplift and acknowledge my Indigenous sisters who are constantly silenced and ignored. The struggle is real, but our inferiority is not. Also a figment of racist imagination is the belief that the United States is a meritocracy – a false narrative that Trump perpetuated in a recent executive order focused on “restoring merit-based opportunities.” In it, he claims that DEI policies “undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.” This ideology is wildly inaccurate yet incredibly appealing to many – especially mediocre white men. For example, I think about the not-so clever white man who told me that DEI stands for “ Didn’t Earn It .” I also think about the white women who asked me if I got into my doctoral program because of affirmative actions – to which I replied, “Nah. It was probably because I had a 4.0 GPA in my master’s program.” And I can’t forget the countless white men who claim that I plagiarized my dissertation. Being accused by someone dripping in privilege of not earning my spot would be laughable if it wasn’t so mentally and emotionally exhausting. Those examples, along with countless others, happened before Trump took office and started banning DEI initiatives. The executive orders are new but the anti-Blackness in which they are rooted is not. As a Black woman in academia, I know this all too well. I know what it’s like to be stopped from entering the elevator and asked why I’m in the building. I know what it’s like to be stopped from entering my classroom and told that I have to wait for the professor to arrive because she couldn’t believe that’s who I was. I know what it’s like to go to Latinx events within academia and stared at by my own people like I don’t belong. And I know what it’s like to have a white man laugh in my face when telling him about my research. So yes, the current DEI bans are negatively affecting us, but I want to make it clear that, even with DEI initiatives in place, we were never safe in academia – physically or psychologically. So why is DEI important? To be honest, even having to explain why DEI is important is frustrating and disheartening. It feels like having to explain why someone’s humanity is important. Which, unfortunately, is exactly what we have to do and DEI initiatives make that possible. They help increase the number of Black women professors, allowing Black girls to see themselves when they walk into a classroom. They provide trans students with the right to have their names and pronouns respected. They create lactation rooms so students can pump or breastfeed with privacy and dignity. They provide accommodations for students with disabilities. They provide counseling services for students who served their country and now struggle with PTSD. They provide mentoring and support for first-generation college students trying to navigate college on their own. Overall, they provide opportunities for students to feel seen, valued, and understood. Unlike privilege, DEI isn’t about giving people something they didn’t earn. It’s about giving people what they need and deserve. First-gen Afro-Latina Dr. Angel Jones is an educator, activist, and critical race scholar whose research explores the impact of racism on the mental health of Black students with a focus on racial microaggressions , Racial Battle Fatigue, and gendered-racism. 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