A Blck Mother Against DEI

I have repeatedly claimed that life is a two-edged sword. Everything has a plus side and a negative side. For example, we need water to live, but it can also flood and cause great harm. Since I am a champion of DEI, what could possibly be a perceived problem with that?

I received a call from an angry mother of an African American student who I advised at EA. I couldn’t determine what could be possibly wrong for the student was happy and doing well. The mother and I had met before. She was a wonderful lady who was a terrific advocate for her son. She never complained about anything before as she knew that I was an advocate for her son as well. In fact, he and I were planning his schedule for the next academic year. He was a fine student taking higher level courses. A parent must sign off on their student’s academic course schedule for the next year. I couldn’t imagine what went wrong. She began by asking, “What are all these diversity courses and experiences that are options at EA? They were elective courses and not required of any students.

Her next comment caught me off guard because I had never thought about it before. She said, “I want him taking the same courses as the white kids take. I want him to have the same chance as they do to get ahead.” She assumed that the diversity courses/opportunities were not a core part of the curriculum and that students who want to get ahead shouldn’t take them. “He knows everything there is to know about being a black kid in white America.” She wasn’t interested in having her son teaching other kids what he already knows as a black kid in our society.

She, as many of my African American parents did, tell their children how to navigate in the white world called simply “the talk!” I indicated to her that all races of our student body, black and white, could take those courses. She saw those courses as “frills”, her word. Black parents are a bit paranoid given the racism then and now.

My own experience in leading diversity groups at EA demonstrated that the more diversity that I had in the class the better the class would be because the make-up of the class led to lively exchanges. That truth applied to my ethics class as well including different points of view.

I assured her that I was not as big an advocate as she was for her son, but I thought I would be a close second. Fortunately, she agreed! In fact, that was why she came to see me. I never forgot that meeting and her words.

I wonder what she is thinking now in the Age of Trump. A lot of her fears must be confirmed. “What would she add to the talk?” I would pay good money to see her in a cabinet meeting. In fact, if that ever occurred, she would walk out of that exchange after speaking truth to power with her head held high!