Apparently, some people in Louisiana's Grand Old Party need a history lesson.
What is now the United States of America became more diverse when people from across the Atlantic invaded these shores and decided the indigenous people weren't worthy of the land, crops and freedom they had enjoyed before lighter-skinned people with a strange language arrived.
The Indigenous people neither invited nor expected the newcomers. There was no such thing as Thanksgiving before the Europeans arrived — though I'm sure many of those who welcomed them later regretted it.
Still, that interaction fostered the earliest form of diversity in what became the country we know today. It's part of our history.
Today, following the lead of Republicans elsewhere in our nation, it seems the Louisiana's GOP-majority Legislature is feverishly working to ditch that part of our history, along with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments at state universities. It's a national trend.
In Florida and Texas, governors and legislators seem determined to destroy academic progress by threatening public higher-education institutions that use diversity as a part of their admissions and hiring decisions and embrace DEI programs and training. About 12 state legislatures have introduced anti-DEI measures designed to erase the gains made in recent decades.
Though no such bills have been introduced in Baton Rouge yet, the Louisiana Republican Party is considering a resolution encouraging legislators to join the clamoring chorus of fearmongers who insist that everyone drop all the race talk and focus on getting along.
Of course, those who go beyond the three letters to enunciate the words "diversity, equity and inclusion" know that race is hardly what DEI is all about. Race is one piece of it. The best DEI efforts include ALL people — Black, White, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Indigeneous and others — with intentional emphasis on abilities, ethnicities, faiths and religions, genders and sexual orientations.
As a journalist who is also an educator and the son of two educators, I know the value of education generally and higher education in particular. A common refrain among educators is the reference to the three-legged approach to academic success — research, teaching and service. There's fundamental truth to that concept, especially for faculty who want tenure. But higher education is about so much more.
That includes attaining and constantly updating knowledge, determining better ways of doing things to achieve progress and learning how individual characteristics and skills can help others learn. It's about personal and professional growth, learning new things and moving through a curriculum that develops critical thinking — not simply being critical of others based on their identities.
If Louisiana Republicans back an anti-DEI resolution and succeed at getting Republican lawmakers to force higher education institutions to dismantle DEI efforts, they will destroy more than higher education. They will destroy a piece of America.
DEI is the latest acronym and name used to recognize what's happening with our country's significant demographic shifts. We have used diversity, equality, parity and pluralism, among other phrases and terms. Each time, some people refused to accept the reality of America's changing demographics. Oftentimes, what made them uncomfortable weren't the words; it was people who are unlike them.
Rather than following other state parties down a path of intolerance and prejudice, Louisiana's Republican Party should make a bold step and be the party's visionary diversity leader. Buck the state and national GOP trend of trying to stomp out perspectives — and history — that you'd rather not hear and see.
The Democrats are a messy political party, largely because of its diverse people, philosophies and experiences. Louisiana Republicans have a chance to bring more people into their fold by touting the benefits of our differences.
Note to the GOP: If you entertain the suggestion above, you'll find that, among those who want "different" people to be more accepted, to receive more equitable treatment and be fairly included, some are now inclined to support a move to amend the term DEI by adding another word — Justice.
They also want to re-order the four components to read, "Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion" — or JEDI.
Will you oppose that, too?
