By Ethan E. Montague

Over the last decade, Americans have seen an influx of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion(DEI) offices virtually everywhere, including schools, companies, and even in government offices by order of the President. Given sacrifice by American heroes like MLK and Rosa Parks in fighting racism and legal segregation, it may seem like these new offices are simply advancing their causes. But it turns out these new so-called “Civil Rights Activists” causes have goals far different from MLK’s dream that “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 

So what is DEI? And is it racist? So to start, the “D” simply stands for Diversity. There’s nothing wrong with that. “I” stands for Inclusion. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that. But the “E” is where I and so many others take exception because it stands for Equity, not Equality. 

But what is the difference and is it meaningful? Equality refers to the idea that everyone should be treated equal, regardless of their race or gender. That is an important goal that all human beings should support. Equity, however, is distinctly different and direct opposition to this idea of Equality. Equity refers to the idea that everyone should end up in the same place regardless of any other factors, such as the decisions they make and the actions they take. As overused as insults like socialist, nazi, fascist, or communist are nowadays, this is literally the same concept as communism. 

Colleges lower their grade thresholds for certain races to even out their enrollment. Harvard famously required massively different scores depending on race. For Black, Hispanic, and Native American kids to attend, they typically must score about an 1100 on the SAT. But for Asians, the women must receive a 1350 and the men must receive a 1380. White students typically needed to score a 1310.

How any of this is legal is baffling to me. Efforts to sue Harvard have all failed so far, although additional legal challenges are in the works. It’s also hard to believe how anyone actually supports this, because the only correct way to hire or accept applications should be without looking at gender or race. 

Why on earth should Asian women be held to a lower standard than Asian men? Is Harvard suggesting that the men are smarter and more capable? After all, they both have all the same rights in America. And why do Black and Hispanic students need lower score standards than White students? People of all races are capable of high scores and those scores are the best way to remove racism from the equation.

Interestingly enough, these same equity activists never seem to keep the same energy when it comes to sports. Black people make up 13.6% of the US population. But they disproportionately make up 73.2% of the NBA. 56% of the NFL is Black. These venues importantly focus on talent. . This is equality. Equity would be if 71% of these leagues were composed of White people.

You see the problem there? The quality of the leagues would likely suffer immensely as a massive amount of talent would leave the sports, for lesser talent to take its place. The reality is different races often have vastly different cultures and desire to work in certain careers. Asians are much more likely statistically to spend vast amounts of time studying and working hard for a degree through college. This results in them being the most educated race by percentage as well as dominating other races in terms of incomes. 

I don’t think I as a non-Asian deserve the same chance to get into college or a job simply to meet racial quotas. If I want to get into a better school or earn more money I should have to have better grades and a better portfolio than my competitors regardless of race and gender. Anything else is ridiculously unfair. Equity is a harebrained concept and should be thrown in the ash heap of history.