Why Democrats Need to Reject DEI

DEI is an "own goal" that has zero upside.

Sending the military down South didn’t work so well last time [reconstruction].
— LBJ (from memory)

There’s a fundamental truth of democratic leadership: you can’t force change far beyond what the public is willing to accept.

Successful leaders, even those with revolutionary goals, have always understood this. Franklin D. Roosevelt knew America would eventually have to confront Nazi Germany, but he waited for the attack on Pearl Harbor¹ before asking for a declaration of war - and even then, only against Japan. He waited for Germany to declare war on the United States days later before acting in Europe.

More recently, look at the path to marriage equality. Both the Clinton and Obama administrations initially supported policies like the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT). They championed civil unions as a stepping stone. Why? Because they understood the political landscape. They knew that pushing for full marriage equality prematurely would have failed.

These presidents understood the ideal, but they also understood the reality. In a democracy, you can lead the voters, but you can only get about one step ahead. You advance the ball as far as you can, but no further. That is the art of politics.

This is where the modern Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) movement went astray. Its proponents - activists, cultural influencers, and political leaders - got way ahead of the voters. They successfully convinced governments and corporations to jump on board with ambitious programs, all while celebrating the laudable goals of DEI.

But the results have been lackluster. A growing body of evidence suggests most DEI initiatives have, at best, accomplished little and, at worst, have been counterproductive, sometimes even fostering resentment.² The result? Corporations spent billions on efforts that didn't work,³ and political candidates found themselves weighed down by programs that alienated more voters than they won over.

Why the Current DEI Model Is a Losing Proposition

During the Civil Rights era, the objective was clear and tangible: open up opportunities for women and minorities. Anyone could look at a photo of a corporate board or a city police force and see a sea of white men. We knew, instinctively, that this was wrong and that a fair society required changing it.

Today’s DEI initiatives, however, often aim to do something far more complex: change how people think and feel.⁴ There is a world of difference between telling employees they must work alongside people different from them and telling them what they must think about those colleagues. There's a difference between ensuring fairness and prescribing ideology.

This approach often comes with the implicit message that failing to fully embrace a specific set of DEI doctrines⁵ makes you a bad person. The goals of true inclusion take time. They require that people, working side-by-side, slowly come to accept one another in all their complexity. This is a gradual, generational process. As younger people who grew up with diverse friendships enter the workforce and become hiring managers, the culture changes organically.

People largely accepted, some grudgingly, that everyone deserves a fair shot. They are not okay with being told how to think, how to interact, or that any divergence from a prescribed script signals a moral failing.

Companies Will Get There

Focusing on merit and process, rather than quotas and ideology, is a more effective path to a diverse and excellent workforce.

At my former company, Windward, we invested heavily in training our interviewers to focus on what truly matters for a role. We stressed a known bias: interviewers often decide if they are comfortable with a candidate in the first 30 seconds and spend the rest of the time seeking confirmation of that snap judgment. We worked to eliminate that.

We didn’t do this to meet a DEI objective. We did it because, as a small company, every single hire had to be someone who raised our average. We desperately needed people who could contribute from day one. By focusing relentlessly on finding the best talent, we naturally built a diverse workforce,⁶ drawing from the most qualified candidates available in our field.

Companies, from startups to large bureaucracies, want this. They know they need a diverse workforce to serve a diverse customer base and that they must create an environment where every employee can thrive. The desire is there, even if the execution is often clumsy. The key is to achieve it through methods that work.

What Democrats Should Do

First, say they are opposed to most DEI programs because they are ineffectual at best and counter-productive at worst. This statement is critical because all Democrats presently have the DEI anchor around their neck.

Second, express confidence that we can achieve the ideals of a diverse and inclusive society organically. When people are empowered to treat each other with compassion and respect in their daily lives, genuine change follows. This change is slower, but it is deeper and more permanent.

Third, in any organization you run, work to make it a place that welcomes everyone and gives them the opportunity to be their best - without the jargon and bureaucracy of formal DEI.⁷ For blatant cases of discrimination, enforce the existing laws. We have a powerful existing legal framework to address bad actors.

Finally, understand that it takes time for people to change. It would be nice if we could legislate this change. We can’t.

1. Granted, we were in a shooting war with the Germans in the North Atlantic. But the American people were unaware of this.

2. Why Diversity Programs Fail

3. The Problem with DEI

4. As an example, only 4% of women are taller than their husband. That’s discrimination.

5. Another bad sign of most DEI initiatives is they were all quite similar. Effective efforts tend to be different in different situations.

6. To the extent possible. Most of the top programmers are White or Asian males.

7. And by all means, if you have effective initiatives in your DEI at present - keep them. But do so quietly and call them something else.