In our country, privilege for one often means oppression for another. The anti-racism movement acknowledges this reality — making the movement a target for politicians such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who last week signed into law a bill blocking public colleges from using federal or state funding on “diversity, equity and inclusion” programming.
This is a shift away from the relatively positive reception diversity efforts have enjoyed over the last two decades. Indeed, diversity initiatives were accepted because they maintained the silence about white privilege. The emergence of an anti-racism movement, however, broke that silence, and now even diversity efforts pose a threat to racial hierarchy in America.
The value of diversity was never more loudly trumpeted than after the 2003 Supreme Court case about race in college admissions. In an opinion written by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Supreme Court affirmed diversity as a compelling state interest that justified the consideration of race in admissions processes. Sustained monitoring would ensure consideration of race imparted the least harm possible to “other innocent persons competing for the benefit.” The term “innocent persons,” a quote from a 1978 affirmative action case, was code for white people.
