In DeSantis’ Florida, ‘reverse racism’ has morphed into a new boogeyman: diversity | Opinion



the Miami Herald Editorial Board
Tue, January 17, 2023 

“Reverse racism” once seemed like a fringe idea not to be taken seriously. Even the most basic understanding of this country’s history will quickly quell any fears that white Americans are the target of widespread discrimination that denies them peace and opportunities.

And yet that concept now has gone mainstream in Florida. The fight against so-called “reverse racism” has been enshrined into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature as if it were the next frontier of the civil rights movement. They have turned what we traditionally considered discrimination on its head.

Discrimination 2.0 comes dressed as “diversity, equity and inclusion,” commonly known as DEI, at state universities and private companies, according to Florida’s new logic. Racists are now are those who seek to make our institutions look more like our country and address the effects of slavery and segregation on African Americans.

Public higher education is now under the gun to root out DEI programs and critical race theory, a 40-year-old academic area of study that looks into how racism has been embedded into our legal system and policies. The Florida House last week requested data from 40 institutions to “access the cost and benefit” of DEI initiatives. Speaker Paul Renner has even requested text messages, social media posts and email regarding curriculum, faculty hiring and proposed discipline.

Renner and fellow lawmakers control the budget of state colleges and universities, so the consequences of trying to diversify academia could be costly. Lawmakers have also set up a mechanism to retaliate against university professors who don’t fall in line. Last year, they made it harder for faculty members to maintain tenure, which protects them from the kind of political interference in education that DeSantis has ushered in.

The fight against DEI is more than a concern about our university system. Florida Republicans have given affirmation and credence to those who once felt ashamed to assert some version of the idea that “white men are the most discriminated group of people in America these days.”

DeSantis’ critics might hate to admit this, but he also has exposed how fraught diversity initiatives can be if not done right. He recently blasted a National Hockey League job fair taking place in Fort Lauderdale in February. The event description on LinkedIn said it was open to participants who “identify as female, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+, and/or a person with a disability,” Fox News Digital reported. The NHL said the post was “not accurate” and revised it after backlash. DeSantis’ office called the fair discriminatory for selecting the type of people who should attend.

We don’t believe that DeSantis’ intention is to improve how companies and institutions diversify their workforce. There’s zero recognition on his part — at least publicly — that not all Americans start life on an equal footing. Nor does he seem to care that some companies and entities are still largely run by white men, even though the country is looking increasingly diverse.

The knowledge that the median white household net worth is 10 times that of the median Black household, according to the Brookings Institution, should provide enough evidence that race impacts the types of opportunities one can access. And saying that we elected a Black president doesn’t change that.

When DeSantis disavows DEI, he’s defending the sensibilities of a group of people who feel threatened by it. Lost in the conversation is that nearly 84% of the NHL’s employees are white and almost 62% are men, according to a report the league itself released in October.

Is the solution to only allow minorities to attend a job fair? No. Incidents like these are what make white people think that diversity is a zero-sum game, that opportunities to one group come at a cost to another. That’s a misconception that many politicians perpetuate for their own gain. The NHL job fair will be seen in conservative circles as proof that businesses engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion are — as far from the truth as that may be — essentially saying “white people need not apply.”

At the same time, good intentions alone won’t diversify a workforce. We know by now it’s not enough to simply invite everyone to apply or lament that “we couldn’t find any qualified women.” Diversity cannot be such an elusive goal that it becomes an afterthought. The point isn’t to have “diversity hires” but to hire people who are a good fit for a workplace, have the proper experience and skills — and that are also diverse.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are not easy topics to discuss, much less achieve. DeSantis seeks to simplify them into a new, more palatable iteration of “reverse racism.”