Yes, efforts to eliminate DEI programs are rooted in racism

New College of Florida’s board of trustees, including conservative activist Christopher Rufo, on the screen, lower right, at a Feb. 28, 2023, meeting at which they voted to abolish the office that handles diversity, equity and inclusion programs. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell Tatishe Nteta, UMass Amherst; Adam Eichen, UMass Amherst; Douglas Rice, UMass Amherst; Jesse Rhodes, UMass Amherst, and Justin H. Gross, UMass Amherst Right-wing activists who have long criticized liberalism and “wokeness” in higher education and helped force the resignation of Claudine Gay, Harvard University’s first African American president, have now set their sights on ending the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs that these activists claim helped place figures like Gay in her job in the first place. Christopher Rufo, the conservative activist who played a pivotal role in forcing Gay’s resignation, stated this view bluntly on X – formerly known as Twitter– following Gay’s ouster: “Today, we celebrate victory. Tomorrow, we get back to the fight. We must not stop until we have abolished DEI ideology from every institution in America.” The DEI initiatives and programs at the center of these controversies aim to help organizations identify and more effectively tackle disparities or inequities in their organizations....