To the editor:
Perhaps you think diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) polices are only meant to benefit Black people. Not so. DEI includes women, Hispanic people, Native American peoples, and others.
Conservatives say that anyone who benefits from DEI is inferior. There are millions of examples that refute this claim, from Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and so on. Just because you needed a leg up to get on a racehorse doesn’t mean you will not develop the riding skill to win the Kentucky Derby when given the chance.
There are still “legacy” admissions at some colleges and universities. (You do not hear complaints from those who benefit from this.) As a legacy, an applicant to a school that a parent graduated from is often granted automatic admission, whereas a Hispanic woman who was the class valedictorian and graduated high school with honors and was given a scholarship from the same school is questioned by some as to how that could have happened. Instead of applauding her achievements, they refuse to recognize they were earned and obviously took long hours of study and hard work.
In the age of Trump, we see people with deep financial resources who have benefited from white privilege using the courts to continue that form of discrimination. Edward Blum, a Federalist Society lawyer, sued Harvard, claiming a process was used with race as a factor, creating discrimination against Asian American applicants. The Supreme Court sided with Blum, upending a way to diversify student enrollment, which I feel is part of having a well-rounded college experience outside of the classroom.
If an applicant is not accepted by their top choice, they can apply to other schools capable of providing them with an excellent education. I know a person who applied to Harvard and was rejected. Instead of sulking and walking away, he audited courses (non-credit without grades) hoping second-year placements would open up, and they did. He reapplied, was accepted, and obtained a Harvard degree.
Conservative groups have taken the Supreme Court’s Harvard decision beyond universities. Rather than standing up for programs that improve the lives for the underserved, those sued often back down due to the cost of defending litigation.
A venture capital firm that provided $20,000 grants to Black women entrepreneurs stopped that initiative. McDonald’s cut back scholarships to students with at least one Hispanic parent. An off-Broadway theater was sued for damages because it offered discount tickets to people of color. This illustrates that conservative groups will do whatever it takes to mold the country to match their vision of America, which in reality limits what diversity adds to the fabric of our society.
Frank Gunsberg
Great Barrington
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