by Col. Sam Thiessen, American Thinker:
The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) recently voted to send President Biden’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), General C.Q Brown, to the full Senate for confirmation. The only reason Brown’s confirmation has not been brought to a vote is because of Senator Tommy Tuberville’s blanket hold on all votes for military officer promotions that require Senate confirmation. While Tuberville’s hold is primarily an effort to stop the Department of Defense (DoD) from funding assistance to service members seeking abortion, it is worth noting that Brown’s views on race and gender diversity in the services are every bit as controversial as government funding of abortion assistance.
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General Brown has expressed his concern for lack of representation of minorities and women in U.S. Air Force pilot ranks. As Air Force Chief of Staff, Brown, himself a minority, has acted to remedy such perceived race and gender disparities in the ranks by implementing diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs throughout the Air Force, including establishing quotas for a set percentage of minority pilots. Such programs have more recently included equity as a desired outcome so that DEI is now the preferred acronym.
DEI is often described as the practical application of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Not surprisingly, CRT is also closely associated with the development and efforts of Black Lives Matter (BLM). BLM has been very influential in creating DEI as a movement that has permeated our social, business, and government institutions, including the U.S. military. General Brown’s efforts to incorporate DEI in our Air Force appear to be no less influential than those of BLM in furthering this movement.
Whether intended or not, the efforts of the DEI Movement have resulted in elevating meeting racial quotas as organizational priorities above those of individual performance and achievement. Companies and organizations have lowered meaningful measures of workplace competence below those of “equitable” demographic representation. At some point the reduction of competence in the workplace caused by focusing more on equity and equal outcomes than on performance will result in organizational dysfunctions. In military organizations this can mean failure and defeat.
Widespread organizational and institutional dysfunctions already occurring throughout society have been identified and well documented by Heather Mac Donald in her latest book, When Race Trumps Merit How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives. As such dysfunctions continue to increase in both degree and frequency it is essential that we ask ourselves how this trend can be reversed and, where needed, remedied while at the same time being fair and equitable to all, where equity is not measured by demographic outcomes but instead by ensuring equal opportunity for all
Despite recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that were announced this year to restrict Affirmative Action quotas in admissions to universities, the DEI Movement, which evolved from decades of Affirmative Action programs, continues as many universities and other types of organizations seek ways to maintain their DEI programs despite the Court’s decision.
With the continuation of DEI comes its continuing deleterious effects on our society that Mac Donald documented in her latest book. One particularly striking example she highlighted bears emphasizing. It involves Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, professor emeritus and former associate dean of curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
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