A Princeton University professor said that the administration removed portraits of the chairmen of &#8220;a scientific department&#8221; simply because they were all white men.
Speaking to intrepid investigative journalist Christopher Rufo, who has been examining racism at prestigious universities, the unnamed professor <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/princeton-university-president-christopher-eisgruber-anti-semitism-racial-discrimination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussed</a> antisemitism and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies at Princeton.
“Anti-Semitism is really a symptom of a deeper malaise at Princeton, which is that the university decided to go woke and — as President [Christopher L.] Eisgruber wrote in the last few months of the first Trump administration — declare that we were ‘systemically racist,’” the professor stated. “But if we have been systemically racist, it’s been against whites, Jews, Asians, and Indians, in favor of other demographics. We’ve always been told that we have to give special treatment to women and certain demographic minorities.&#8221;
The professor recalled that, as a “search officer” with access to demographic data, he was informed that 70% of the faculty members were white. He said he and other search officers were told by the department that the faculty had to reflect the composition of the class, which the department curated itself. “Having engineered the class a certain way, they wanted then to engineer the faculty,” he said.
“Last year, Eisgruber was on an American Enterprise Institute panel, in conversation with Ben Sasse,” the professor noted. “Sasse asked him, ‘Other than Robbie George, who are the conservatives on campus?’ Eisgruber couldn’t come up with a single name, and people started laughing. &#8230; Certainly, if you’re a conservative student or a Christian or a Zionist, many are afraid and won’t talk.”
Asked by Rufo which people Eisgruber had rewarded, the professor replied:
<blockquote>
All the people who’ve been signing these anti-Israel petitions and going to the encampments are being considered for the top administrative positions. For instance, there’s a woman named Ruha Benjamin who has just been given the MacArthur Award. She led a group of students to take over a building here and then exited the building a minute before the police showed up. And she’s on the web page of the university as the “genius,” the most wonderful, incredible academic. In truth, she is the person who led the crazy stuff about Israel and Hamas on campus.
</blockquote>
“A scientific department had displayed photographs of all the previous department chairs for the last 70 years—all white men, many of them Jewish,” the professor told Rufo. “One day, all the pictures disappeared. The administration had removed them from the wall because someone found it objectionable that all these white men should be staring down at them. And yet, a number of those men were key in bringing black students to Princeton in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. But none of that history matters: it’s just a bunch of white faces, so they removed all the photographs, and no one objected—no one.&#8221;
“I want this university severely punished for its unlawful behavior,” the professor declared. “I want discovery; I want all the emails to come out that will make it very evident that this university was engaged in illegal discrimination. I want President Eisgruber subpoenaed before Congress to have to account for not only anti-Semitism, but for DEI and for the ‘systemic racism’ arguments that he’s made. I want him to be publicly put on the stand. That’s what ultimately will deeply embarrass this university.”

Lockhart Hall on Princeton University Campus

Professor Says Princeton University Removed Portraits Of Dept Chairmen Because They Were White Men

Education

Princeton University

Racism

U.S.

Whites

Collective cries of anguish echoed through the heavens this past weekend. You may have heard the sound. It was the sound of trauma. Of heartbreak. Of great moral outrage. It was the sound of the Left-wing hacks in sports media reacting to Shedeur Sanders, the son of former NFL star Deion Sanders, being drafted into the the NFL a little bit later than most people expected.
For some background and context, Shedeur Sanders is a quarterback who played for The University of Colorado where his dad, Deion Sanders, is the head coach. For months, most analysts projected that he would be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, which began on Thursday and ran for three days and seven total rounds. But the prognosticators in sports media are about as credible, and have about as good a track record, as the political prognosticators in the news media. Which is to say they&#8217;re full of crap most of the time. So Shedeur was not drafted in the first or even second round. Instead he didn&#8217;t come off the board until the fifth round, when he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns — who selected a different quarterback, some other players, a water boy, a cheerleader, and a janitor before they finally got around to drafting Shedeur.
Why does any of this matter? Well, it doesn’t matter. But to the commentators in sports media, it was a national tragedy. Shedeur’s brief draft slide was ESPN’s 9-11. It was the NFL Network’s Pearl Harbor. They’ll never forget where they were when it happened. They were shell shocked. Dumbfounded. Grief stricken. 
Here are two very short clips that should give you a pretty good idea of how they were covering the news:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 Charles Davis and the NFL Network crew and Mel Kiper" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yw9CHR0lCsc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;It&#8217;s disgusting. I don’t get it. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s never happened before. I just want to reach out and give him a hug. This is such a tough time for him.&#8221;
To be clear, they aren’t talking about someone who survived a school shooting. They&#8217;re talking about an already wealthy and famous athlete who had to wait a day longer than expected to be drafted into the NFL and get paid millions of dollars to play football. This is like weeping in the street because a trust fund baby got the wrong color Ferrari for her sweet 16. Most of the human population would kill just for the chance to experience this kind of &#8220;disappointment.&#8221; But the sports media treated Shedeur like a holocaust survivor.
All of this would just be kind of funny and embarrassing but not worth discussing. After all, sports media embarrasses itself in some form pretty much every day. They embarrass themselves even more often than the news media, if you can believe it. But what makes this whole spectacle something worse, and perhaps more notable, is the reason why the sports media were so outraged.
They — very predictably — made it about race. It was decided that Shedeur Sanders fell in the draft because he&#8217;s black.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1584-member-exclusive?elementPosition=2&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
As an article in The Root put it in “<a href="https://www.theroot.com/i-am-a-leader-i-forge-my-own-path-shedeur-sanders-mak-1848432864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shedeur Sanders</a> not getting drafted in the first, second or third rounds of the NFL draft is like when that white cashier scrunches up her face and drops change in your hand instead of running the risk of touching you. Was she a racist Karen, or is that how she treats all customers? It’s a racism Rorschach test.”
Never mind the question of how else a cashier is supposed to transfer change from her hand to yours. What do you want her to do? Stroke your arm gently as she sensuously places one coin at a time into your palm? Personally I prefer that she just drop the change into my hand so we can both move on with our lives. But that’s how I interpret the “racism Rorschach test.” On the other hand, for the race hustlers, when it comes to the racism Rorschach test, the answer is always yes. And that’s why lots of commentators in sports media jumped in to make it about race. Here&#8217;s another brief highlight reel: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="006 Racism" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q-CyAJFyOVw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
That was Ryan Clark, Emmanuel Acho, and Skip Bayless — three of the most prominent sports commentators in the country. All of them agree that this came down to race. Skip is practically in tears over it. Emmanuel says he was up all night “muling&#8221; about it, whatever the hell that&#8217;s supposed to mean. I assume the word he was reaching for was “mulling.” But the other thing about sports commentators is that they are, for the most part, fantastically stupid.
Stephen A Smith was also outraged. He was tweeting in a frantic hysteria all weekend, repeatedly invoking Colin Kaepernick and alleging that there was &#8220;collusion&#8221; at play, just as there was, allegedly, to keep Kaepernick out of the league.
And it wasn&#8217;t just sports commentators. Jamaal Bowman, the former congressman famous only for pulling a fire alarm, put out a video on Saturday claiming that Shedeur’s fate is more evidence that &#8220;America continues to fear strong black men.” 
He also said this:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="007 Jamaal Bowman" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q3DwXgvB3cI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
Now, given that I have an audience of intelligent people — certainly more intelligent than Jamaal Bowman, who has the approximate IQ of a rubber spatula — I probably don&#8217;t need to explain that these racism complaints are totally asinine.
If you think that Shedeur wasn’t drafted in the first round because he&#8217;s black, you’ll have to explain why the guy selected number one overall is black. Also the guy selected number two is black. So was the guy selected number three. So was the guy selected number six, number seven, number eight, number nine, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and so on. There were 32 selections in the first round. All but five of them were black. And this ratio held up through the entire draft, just as it did in last year&#8217;s draft, and the year before that, and before that, and before that, for decades. Which is why only 25% of the players in the NFL are white. All of the rest are black, or some other racial minority.
The vast majority of NFL players are black. The vast majority of the biggest stars are black. The highest paid player in the league is black.
So where is the racism coming into play? Is it that black players are held to a higher standard? Are black players scrutinized and penalized and criticized more? No, definitely not. Deshaun Watson — a black quarterback — was credibly accused of sexual assault by over 20 women and yet was still given the richest contract in league history after all of these accusations were made public. There are black players in the league who have been involved in all manner of scandals and crimes and alleged crimes. The Baltimore Ravens selected a player in the second round of this year’s draft who was accused of rape in high school and college. He’s also black. But they needed an edge rusher, and the kid has talent, so they overlooked the rape stuff. That&#8217;s how NFL teams operate. They don&#8217;t care about the color of your skin or crimes on your rap sheet. They only care if you can help them win games. Winning is the only thing that matters. The Ravens most legendary player of all time, a black man, was charged with double murder. A year later he won Super Bowl MVP. Nothing matters in football but winning. Which is what I love about football, actually. It&#8217;s the ultimate meritocracy.
Shedeur suffered his tragic drop, for which all of humanity weeps and the heavens cry out for justice, because he&#8217;s not a great prospect. He&#8217;s a pretty good prospect, but not great. He’s not as talented as a lot of the guys who went before him. Also, to make matters much worse, he’s a high maintenance diva with an ego bigger than any room he walks into. According to lots of reports, that&#8217;s exactly how he came across in his pre-draft interviews with various teams. This is a guy who had a room custom built just for the draft night broadcast with the word “legendary” painted all over the walls. He hosted a draft party where he performed some rap songs — apparently he moonlights as a rapper — and walked around with a giant brief case full of cash.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Star: Shedeur Sanders threw a MASSIVE party to celebrate being drafted by the Browns.
Sanders performed his hit rap songs and flexed over $100K in cash during the event.
So many celebrities were in attendance as well.
Cleveland drafted a superstar 👀 <a href="https://t.co/zqKZZVNCqe">pic.twitter.com/zqKZZVNCqe</a>
&mdash; Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1916572629386887611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At the NFL scouting combine, he said he doesn’t even need to explain why an NFL team should draft him. 
There&#8217;s no question that Shedeur deserves it, according to Shedeur. Listen:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="009 Sanders Speaks" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QfpmX-Oxyn0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
If you aren&#8217;t ready to change your culture, don&#8217;t draft him. That was his message to teams considering drafting him. A message that was apparently heard loud and clear.
This is, of course, the opposite of what you want to say in a job interview. Employers are looking for candidates who will fit their workplace culture, not candidates who demand that the culture change for them. Imagine walking into an interview and saying, &#8220;Hey, if you hire me, I’m going to need you to change your whole culture and the entire way that you do business. That&#8217;s how special I am.” That’s a surefire recipe for getting laughed out of the room. The only real mystery here is how this jackass managed to find any team dumb and desperate enough to draft him. But it’s Cleveland we&#8217;re talking about. Dumb and desperate is their brand. It turns out they actually won&#8217;t have to change their culture at all.
In any case, in this story we find the real tragedy of the Left-wing race hustle. We find what really makes it so harmful. Which is that it constantly destroys opportunities for much more productive conversations. So many teachable moments have been wasted over the past several years because the usual suspects injected their racial victimization narrative into it, completely derailing what could have otherwise been a useful discussion.
In this case we could have been talking about the value of humility. And we could use more conversations about humility, as it falls second only to chastity as the most underrated virtue of our time. Shedeur comes from a generation that has been thoroughly brainwashed into the religion of self-worship. And his dad is Deion Sanders, who is one of the prophets of that religion. But in the real world, you can only get away with being a narcissistic nightmare if you’re extremely talented and gifted — if the weight of your ego is still somehow outweighed by your skills. Even then, you’re only getting away with being a narcissist. It certainly isn&#8217;t helping you. And eventually, as your skills fade — as they will for everyone, no matter your line of work — this equation may not work out in your favor anymore. The thing about a narcissist is that their skills, their talents, their physical gifts — whatever it is that’s causing people to put up with their nonsense — won’t last forever. But narcissism, unchecked, will last forever. Or at least until death. In fact, it will probably even grow with age, like a tumor.
So the lesson is that, no matter how talented you are, it’s better to be humble. There are two kinds of people in this world, after all. The humble, and those who will be humbled. As Christ explains to us in the Beatitudes. Better to be in the first group than the second. That’s the lesson we could take from this. But instead we’re hearing again about racism. Because why talk about real issues, when you can talk about fake ones. If the media had a motto, that would be it.

2025 NFL Draft – Rounds 4-7

Another Dumb ‘Racism’ Scandal Takes Over The NFL

Another Dumb 'Racism' Scandal Takes Over The NFL

Blacks

College Football

Deion Sanders

ESPN

Football

Legacy Media

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Sports

Actor John Boyega claims that “Star Wars” fans are prejudiced against black actors and will only tolerate them being cast in minor roles.
The 33-year-old British star achieved global fame for his role as Finn in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015). Boyega made the remarks during the new Apple TV+ documentary “Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood.”
&#8220;Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most whitest [sic], elite space,&#8221; the actor said, per <a href="https://ew.com/john-boyega-mocks-racist-star-wars-fans-11704825">Entertainment Weekly</a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s a franchise that&#8217;s so white that a black person existing in [it] was something.&#8221;
Boyega said “Star Wars” movies did have black stars such as himself in them, but complained the roles were secondary and both the fans and the franchise heads were too quick to celebrate the inclusion. 
&#8220;You can always tell it&#8217;s something when some Star Wars fans try to say, &#8216;Well, we had Lando Calrissian and had Samuel L. Jackson!'&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. It&#8217;s like, they just scattered that in there, bro!&#8221;
Boyega added, &#8220;They&#8217;re okay with us playing the best friend, but once we touch their heroes, once we lead, once we trailblaze, it&#8217;s like, &#8216;Oh my God, it&#8217;s just a bit too much! They&#8217;re pandering!'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Star Wars actor John Boyega attacks fans of the franchise as racist white elitists <a href="https://t.co/s9zxszFwiR">pic.twitter.com/s9zxszFwiR</a>
&mdash; End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1906883888216957166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He was upset that his character was not better developed and concluded that the fans didn&#8217;t want that to happen. Several commenters took issue with Boyega blaming the fans for his role being diminished, pointing out that they were also annoyed by Disney’s treatment of the franchise.
“John Boyega blaming fans instead of Disney’s disastrous handling of Star Wars is just lazy,” one person <a href="https://x.com/Manic_Doge/status/1906926828310421721">noted</a>. “Fans aren’t rejecting the franchise because of race—they’re rejecting it because Hollywood keeps shoving a woke agenda down their throats at every turn. People are tired of studios prioritizing identity politics over good storytelling, and the box office numbers prove it. Instead of attacking the audience, maybe he should ask why so many lifelong Star Wars fans have walked away.”
“What’s terrible about this take is it is the complete opposite,” another person <a href="https://x.com/Aku_700/status/1906885789025190033">agreed</a>. “Star Wars fans WANTED him to take up a bigger role, and work his way into becoming a Jedi. They completely shafted him for Rey’s BS story arc.  His problem is with the fans and not the writers??”
“Another Hollywood crybaby playing the race card because his career isn’t skyrocketing. Star Wars fans don’t care about your skin color. They care about good stories, something Disney stopped delivering years ago,” <a href="https://x.com/OneXOneY/status/1906885144713343431">echoed</a> a third.
This isn’t the first time the actor has voiced his issues with the role he played in “Star Wars.” During a 2020 <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/john-boyega-interview-2020">interview</a> with British GQ, Boyega said he was disappointed that the character of Finn had a more prominent part in “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi” (2017) compared to his part in “The Rise of Skywalker&#8221; (2019). 
&#8220;What I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It&#8217;s not good,&#8221; he told the outlet at the time. 
“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” he continued, saying those actors got all the “nuance” while his character did not. “You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f*** all. So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, ‘I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience&#8230;’ Nah, nah, nah. I’ll take that deal when it’s a great experience.”

John Boyega

‘Star Wars’ Actor Comes After Fans, Calls The Franchise ‘The Most Whitest, Elite Space’

'Star Wars' Actor Comes After Fans, Calls The Franchise 'The Most Whitest, Elite Space'

Disney

Movies

Star Wars

World

A Columbia University professor who participated in pro-Hamas protests has been connected to more than $100 million in grants while she has promoted the idea that brain disease can be catalyzed by racism.
Columbia neuropsychologist Jennifer J. Manly “stood in a human blockade intending to prevent administrators from dismantling the unauthorized encampments last April,” City Journal’s Christopher Rufo and Hannah Grossman <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/columbia-professor-hamas-protest-grants-research">note</a>, adding, “According to the <a href="https://reporter.nih.gov/search/zcvQRKaEW0WDLNxgjsBwVg/projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Institutes of Health</a> and other publicly <a href="https://grantome.com/search?q=@author%20%20Jennifer%20Manly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accessible</a> databases, she has been named in connection with over $100 million in grants over the past 20 years.”
Rufo and Grossman point out that in an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kG8pK6XJqM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> last year, Manly declared that “we shouldn’t blame people for their lifestyle choices in terms of their brain health,” blaming “systems of oppression” and “discriminatory beliefs” to cause an inordinate percentage of dementia among black people. “Any biological differences are driven by &#8230; racism,” Manly stated, adding that racism is “the pathway through which race is ‘biologized.’”
“One paper Manly coauthored <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26412671" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blamed</a> ‘historical patterns of segregation’ for higher rates of dementia among blacks. Another <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39692214" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paper</a> blamed ‘structural sexism’ for declining memory, with the effect found to be stronger among black women,” Rufo and Grossman report.
The National Institutes of Health granted Manly and her colleagues roughly $700,000 to examine how racism and brain disease are connected, prompting a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39616788/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paper</a> titled “The impact of historical lynchings on biological and cognitive health for older adults racialized as Black.”
The paper’s abstract stated, “This study examines the association between state-level exposure to historical lynchings (adverse childhood racism for modern older adults), with C-reactive protein (CRP, a marker of systemic inflammation), and global cognitive performance (modified TICS).”
Another <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38665381/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">paper</a>, titled “Impact of Structural Socioeconomic Racism and Resilience on Cognitive Change Over Time for Persons Racialized as Black,” stated in its abstract, “These findings reveal the impact of racist U.S. policies enacted in the past that influence cognitive health over time and dementia risk later in life.”
The medical director of Do No Harm, psychiatrist Kurt Miceli, called Manly&#8217;s linking lynchings with black dementia rates “political,” not scientific. “He goes on to explain that the marker Manly uses to track her hypothesis of racism-invoked stress—CRP—can rapidly change and is more influenced by health factors such as obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and high blood pressure,” Rufo and Grossman write, adding, “Manly continues to <a href="https://edshareproject.org/about/people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">help lead</a> a <a href="https://www.usaspending.gov/search?hash=f0004c4dc92174ad68fbe554a390b0eb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multimillion-dollar</a> government <a href="https://edshareproject.org/about/history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">project</a> funded by numerous agencies that tracks brain aging. She also currently maintains more than $20 million in active grants to support <a href="https://www.neurology.columbia.edu/profile/jennifer-j-manly-phd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her research</a> at the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute at Columbia.”

Pro Palestine Columbia students continue occupation of campus

Columbia Professor Who Rallied For Hamas Connected To $100M+ In Grants

Christopher Rufo

Columbia University

dementia

Grants

Hamas

Politics

A podcaster has publicly apologized to rap artist Megan Thee Stallion after facing backlash for what’s been described as a &#8220;racist&#8221; comment.
Hannah Berner and her “Giggly Squad” podcast co-host, Paige DeSorbo, conducted celebrity interviews on the red carpet for Vanity Fair on Sunday during the outlet’s Oscars after-party event. The pair got to speak with Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, and one portion of that interview has since gone viral.
During the interview, both podcasters were praising the “Hot Girl Summer” singer. DeSorbo told Pete that she always starts her day with the artist’s songs, prompting Berner to say, “Your music has literally like, made me &#8230; when I want to fight someone, I listen to your music.”
“You want to throw that fighting sh** out the window,” Pete replied. “You want to get cute and be a bad b*tch.”
“When people are talking sh**, I go, ‘Turn on Megan Thee Stallion!’” Berner added, getting so excited that she started jumping up and down.
“Body-ody-ody, I look beautiful, I look so great,” Pete responded, referencing the chorus of her hit song “Body.” 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Vanity Fair Oscar Party Live" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wjgOwBtY4-o?start=3628&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
TikTok commenters came after the interviewers, saying the interaction had “racist” undertones.
“This felt so racist. And they didn’t let her finish most her sentences,” one TikTok user wrote.
“Very micro aggressive. Megs music isn’t about fighting and the fangirling is a spectacle. Please hire real interviewers that know how to talk to black women as PEOPLE and not characters,” another person agreed.
“The racism is LOUD!” a third echoed.
“Lowkey ‘angry Black woman’ references in 2025? Please,” TyLisa Johnson <a href="https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/vanity-fair-megan-thee-stallion-hannah-berner-oscars-2025/">wrote</a> in an opinion column for Poynter.
“I’ve been a fan of Megan Thee Stallion since around 2016, when she was a young college student freestyling in cars. She has never made me want to fight. She makes me want to dance, be more liberated, stand up for myself and own my womanhood.”
The backlash became so extreme that Berner issued an apology via Instagram Stories on Thursday. &#8220;Interviewing Megan Thee Stallion was a dream of mine. I love her music and it&#8217;s my go to whenever I need to boost my confidence before a show. Looking back at the interview, I wish I used any other word except &#8216;fight&#8217; to describe how her songs impact me,&#8221; Berner wrote.
&#8220;It was a careless choice of words and though there was no ill intent, I recognize and acknowledge that what I said has a deeper meaning and I am so sorry to Megan,” she continued. “I appreciate everyone who brought this to my attention.&#8221;

Megan Thee Stallion

Podcast Host Apologizes For ‘Racist’ Comment While Interviewing Megan Thee Stallion

Podcast Host Apologizes For 'Racist' Comment While Interviewing Megan Thee Stallion

Entertainment

Music

Rap Music

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss charges against him, citing claims of “racist” laws which they say are unfairly used to target black men.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He is currently being held in a federal jail in New York City awaiting trial in the spring and, if convicted on all counts, is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Diddy’s defense attorneys are now saying the government is guilty of racist actions because &#8220;no white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution,&#8221; per <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/sean-diddy-combs-singled-black-defense/story?id=118959797">ABC News</a>. They state that enforcement of The Mann Act of 1910 has historically been used to “target black men.”
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The legal team says the statute has a “long and troubling history” with “racist origins,” plus was “used to target black men and supposedly protect white women from them.”
“The government has concocted a criminal case based primarily on allegations that Mr Combs and two of his longtime girlfriends sometimes brought a third party — a male escort — into their sexual relationship,” they add.
The Mann Act was called the White-Slave Traffic Act when it was enacted in 1910. It made it illegal to transport people across state or international lines for the purpose of prostitution, which in that era was happening frequently as young girls worked in brothels, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/20/us-news/sean-diddy-combs-claims-hes-been-singled-out-by-racist-us-law/">noted</a>. 
“What was racist in its inception has often been racist in its operation,” the filing states.
One of the charges involves Combs’ highly publicized “freak off” parties, or drug-fueled orgies, which included acts of coercion, force, and prostitution. These events are mentioned in the motion to dismiss.
&#8220;Yet no other person, and certainly no white person, has ever previously been prosecuted under the White-Slave Traffic Act for hiring male escorts from another State,&#8221; defense attorneys Alexandra Shapiro and Marc Agnifilo wrote. 
&#8220;Mr. Combs has been singled out because he is a powerful black man, and he is being prosecuted for conduct that regularly goes unpunished. Count Three should be dismissed because this is a clear case of selective prosecution.&#8221;
They argue that Combs should not be prosecuted because other high-profile individuals have engaged in threesome sexual encounters and paid for the experience. 
&#8220;Many couples, including wealthy high-profile couples, involve third parties in their sexual relationships, sometimes for implicit or explicit remuneration,&#8221; the filing says. &#8220;No federal prosecutor, in this district or any other, has targeted the company, its CEO, or its escorts.”
Despite the attorneys’ claims, Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of Jeffery Epstein, was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-are-charges-ghislaine-maxwell-sex-abuse-trial-2021-11-30/">convicted</a> under the Mann Act for transporting minors with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Maxwell was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.

Diddy

Diddy’s Lawyers File Motion To Dismiss, Claim He’s ‘Singled Out’ By ‘Racist’ Laws

Diddy's Lawyers File Motion To Dismiss, Claim He's 'Singled Out' By 'Racist' Laws

Courts

Prostitution

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

After school board members walked out on parents who were upset over LGBT book &#8220;The Rainbow Parade,&#8221; the board is doubling down and prohibiting public comments at meetings until at least the end of April, citing alleged racism.
As reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/school-board-walks-out-on-parents-angry-over-rainbow-parade-book-for-kindergarteners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a>, residents in Penfield, New York, tried to raise concerns at a school board meeting on Tuesday about an explicit LGBT book out on display at the school&#8217;s elementary library, called “The Rainbow Parade,&#8221; which is about a young girl with two mothers who take her to a Pride Parade. However, the board walked out on parents before public comments began, telling attendees they must submit written complaints only.
Now, the board representing Penfield Central School District has barred public comment at all meetings for the months ahead.
&#8220;Our district values the voices of all community members and encourages constructive engagement,&#8221; an email from School Board President Dr. Emily Roberts reads. &#8220;However, respect, civility, and adherence to meeting protocols must be upheld to ensure that all discussions remain productive.&#8221;
&#8220;With this in mind, we have decided to pause public comment at BOE (Board of Education) meetings during the months of March and April so that we can all work together restoring a positive environment in which respectful conversations can take place,&#8221; Roberts continued. &#8220;In the meantime, should you have concerns you wish to bring to the Board’s attention, please email us.”
The message also cited alleged racism, since one of the board meeting attendees showed up on Tuesday wearing a gorilla suit and a black “Make America Great Again” hat. Roberts suggested it was worn as an act of racism, since the district’s superintendent and some of the board members are black.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Penfield NY school district has announced that it will prohibit public comment at its meetings until at least the end of April. <a href="https://t.co/6mU9YQoPQ4">pic.twitter.com/6mU9YQoPQ4</a>
— Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) <a href="https://twitter.com/BobLonsberry/status/1890386466649317848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
The Daily Wire has reached out to the district&#8217;s superintendent, Dr. Tasha Potter, about the controversy, but did not receive a response.
As noted by The Daily Wire, &#8220;The Rainbow Parade&#8221; includes illustrations that show men in sexual BDSM gear, drag queens, and others are naked. 
“That’s not how you object, so, if you cannot, again, follow by what we ask you to do, we will ask you – we will ask those people who cannot do that to be removed,&#8221; a board member said at Tuesday&#8217;s meeting. &#8220;We are here at our board meeting, conducting our business.&#8221;
Kimberly DeRosa, who attended the meeting, told The Daily Wire that parents want an end to any sexualized content in classrooms and the library. She added that residents will vote for new school board members in May, and some of the candidates for those positions were in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
BIG SCANDAL UNFOLDING in Penfield Central School District in New York:
A kindergartner reportedly came home with a book about attending an LGBTQ pride parade which included pictures of naked people and men in bondage fetish gear.
Parents showed up to demand an explanation and… <a href="https://t.co/ogLmPd0yIW">pic.twitter.com/ogLmPd0yIW</a>
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1889762521701130349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/school-board-walks-out-on-parents-angry-over-rainbow-parade-book-for-kindergarteners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">School Board Walks Out On Parents Angry Over ‘Rainbow Parade’ Book For Kindergarteners</a>

Penfield Central School Board

School Board Walks Out On Parents, Then Bars All Public Comments, Citing Racism

LGBTQ

New York

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nfl">NFL</a> has reportedly sent the word to remove the messaging “End Racism” from the end zones for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/super-bowl">Super Bowl</a> LIX in New Orleans on Sunday.
It will be the first time since February 2021 that the message &#8220;End Racism&#8221; has not appeared in a Super Bowl end zone. According to multiple sources, when the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles players take the field at the Caesars Superdome, the messaging in the end zones will read, “It Takes All Of Us” and “Choose Love,” the Athletic <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6112317/2025/02/04/nfl-end-racism-super-bowl-dei-trump/?partner=slack&amp;smid=sl-share">reported</a>. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
From <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthletic</a>: Sunday’s Super Bowl will mark the first time since February 2021 that “End Racism” is not included as a message in the back of the final&#8217;s end zone, according to league sources. <a href="https://t.co/uyz2HSBFGj">https://t.co/uyz2HSBFGj</a>
— The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1886829629555589372?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
“We felt it was an appropriate statement for what the country has collectively endured, given recent tragedies, and can serve as an inspiration,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said of the chosen messages, noting the terrorist attack in New Orleans’ French Quarter last month, the recent plane crash near Reagan Washington National Airport, and the wildfires that destroyed communities in Southern California.
The news follows reports that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-become-first-sitting-president-to-attend-super-bowl">President Donald Trump</a> will become the first sitting U.S. president to attend the NFL’s biggest game. A White House official told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/donald-trump-super-bowl/index.html">CNN</a> on Tuesday that Trump is expected to attend the Super Bowl with guests that could include House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
The heavy security planned for the game will be heightened even more for the president’s attendance, according to CNN. The Super Bowl will take place just over a month after a radical Islamic terrorist drove a truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day, killing 14 people.
In 2018, the league initially launched its “Inspire Change” platform, and two years later, slogans like “Stop Hate,” “End Racism,” “It Takes All of Us,” and “Choose Love” started to make an appearance along end-zone borders, the outlet noted. However, the changes didn’t happen until after George Floyd’s death in 2020. 
Despite the reported messaging move for the Super Bowl, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell praised DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts at the club-employment level and said it wasn’t going anywhere.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League,” Goodell said. “And we’re going to continue those efforts, because we’ve not only convinced ourselves we’ve proven it to ourselves — it does make the NFL better.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-become-first-sitting-president-to-attend-super-bowl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump To Become First Sitting President To Attend Super Bowl</a>

NFL: DEC 15 Dolphins at Giants

NFL To Remove ‘End Racism’ Message In Super Bowl End Zones: Report

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

George Floyd

Roger Goodell

Social Issues

Super Bowl

Every candidate for Democratic National Committee chair agreed on Thursday that &#8220;racism and misogyny played a role&#8221; in former Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217; election defeat.
Eight DNC chair candidates, including former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O&#8217;Malley, were part of an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYGNpj0qqow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MSNBC forum</a> at Georgetown University, where they answered various questions from network hosts Jen Psaki, Symone Sanders, and Jonathan Capehart. After a question from Capehart for all the candidates, each agreed that Harris lost to President Donald Trump partly because of a culture of racism and misogyny.
&#8220;So, I’m going to have a show of hands. How many of you believe that racism and misogyny played a role in Vice President Harris’ defeat?&#8221; Capehart asked.
Every candidate quickly raised their hands as did the audience members.
&#8220;That&#8217;s good. You all passed,&#8221; Capehart said.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="MSNBC Live moderates a DNC forum live from Georgetown University" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mYGNpj0qqow?start=21535&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Republicans and political commentators blasted the DNC chair candidates&#8217; response to Capehart&#8217;s question. More than 77 million Americans voted for Trump over Harris in 2024, including a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/07/trump-black-latino-men-working-class-00188185" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shift</a> from Hispanic and black men in Trump&#8217;s favor. Trump also made gains among <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/yes-trump-improved-young-men-drew-young-women-rcna179019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">young women</a> in his election victory over Harris.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) <a href="https://x.com/TTuberville/status/1885293199138095210" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on X, &#8220;I&#8217;m already looking forward to expanding our majority in 2026.&#8221;
&#8220;I endorse this post-mortem analysis and encourage my democratic friends to double or even triple down,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1885301760618647841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quipped</a> CNN pundit Scott Jennings.
Conservative columnist Marc Thiessen <a href="https://x.com/marcthiessen/status/1885288415555363053" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joked</a>, &#8220;No idea why they lost.&#8221;
Throughout the forum, some candidates berated Trump and the Republican Party, claiming they were threats to the country. The DNC chair will be <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dnc-chair-winter-meeting-wikler-martin-27c12854863eb1d0753db741352b5dfa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elected</a> by members on Saturday. Outgoing chairman Jaimie Harrison announced he would not run for another term after Democrats lost the White House and control of the Senate after the November election.

Kamala Harris

Every DNC Chair Candidate Says ‘Racism, Misogyny Played A Role’ In Kamala’s Defeat

Every DNC Chair Candidate Says 'Racism, Misogyny Played A Role' In Kamala Harris' Election Defeat

Democratic National Committee

Democrats

Donald Trump

Elections

Marianne Williamson

Martin O'Malley

MSNBC

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-magazine">New York Magazine</a> recently devoted their cover to a snapshot from one of President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>’s inauguration parties &#8212; but some people who were there accuse the outlet of intentionally cropping out black party attendees and then claiming in the article that the party was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/racism">mostly “white.”</a>
The magazine’s headline included the bold text, “The Cruel Kids’ Table,” and featured attendees dressed in gowns and tuxedos from a party called the “Power 30 Awards” on the eve of the inauguration. 
The article’s author Brock Colyar wrote, “almost everyone is white,” followed by his take on the party. “The men look like Pete Hegseth, in bow ties and black suits, with clean-shaven faces. The women are almost all out of their league.”
In another quote from the story, a woman who attended a different inauguration party allegedly said: “Have you noticed the entire room is white?”
Conservative commentator Christopher Barnard posted the full photo which accompanied the story inside the magazine on X, noting how it had been strategically cropped. “New York Magazine literally cropped all the black people out of this cover photo and then complained that ‘the entire room is white,’” he wrote on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
New York Magazine literally cropped all the black people out of this cover photo and then complained that “the entire room is white” <a href="https://t.co/gCatY1lZzG">https://t.co/gCatY1lZzG</a> <a href="https://t.co/VhoaiJhqg1">pic.twitter.com/VhoaiJhqg1</a>
&mdash; Christopher Barnard (@ChrisBarnardDL) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBarnardDL/status/1884028088843190523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council CJ Pearson also took to X and <a href="https://x.com/thecjpearson/status/1883992066784416231">showed</a> the full version of the cropped cover photo.
“This is insane. I hosted this event and @NYMag intentionally left me out of their story because it would have undermined their narrative that MAGA is some racist cult,” Pearson wrote. “They also didn’t include the fact that @WakaFlocka and @Gervontaa were also there.”
“You don’t hate the liberal media enough,” he concluded.
Other black conservatives who attended the event included former Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones, Turning Point USA contributor Rob Smith, and PragerU’s Xaviaer DuRousseau.
Colyar mentioned DuRousseau in the article without revealing that he was black. Pearson, Jones, and Smith were not mentioned at all, per <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/politics/new-york-mag-accused-of-cropping-black-people-out-of-trump-party-it-said-was-nearly-all-white/">Mediaite</a>.
“I was at this party as were MANY other Conservative media influencers who are Black, Latino, Asian, etc,” Smith posted on X. “NYMag used a whites only photo to push the media narrative that diverse Republicans don’t exist and weren’t welcome. You don’t hate the media enough.”
New York Magazine provided the New York Post with a comment on the photo cropping drama. A spokesperson <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/01/28/media/ny-magazine-ripped-for-cropping-black-people-from-trump-party-cover/">said</a>, “The magazine’s most recent cover story explores the new class of conservatives taking Washington by storm, through the lens of inauguration weekend. The cover was cropped to the center of a picture that was published in full online, and we believe both the cover and story provide an accurate impression of the weekend.”

New York Magazine Logo on Building Exterior

NY Mag Slammed For Cropping Black People Out Of Trump Party Photo, Saying It Was So ‘White’

NY Mag Slammed For Cropping Black People Out Of Trump Party Photo, Saying It Was So 'White'

Inauguration

Media

New York Magazine

One of the most common rebuttals you’ll get when you criticize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in any meaningful fashion are historical red herrings. If you’re so opposed to DEI, such arguments go, then you must have a problem with people learning about America’s history of slavery, the civil rights movement, and anything to do with race relations. Obviously, these arguments are fallacious ones — but that hasn’t stopped them from coming up in the middle of modern debates over DEI and America’s struggles with racial division.
Recently, the Air Force was forced to confront this argument. In the wake of President Trump’s executive order prohibiting discriminatory DEI practices at the federal level, reports <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/air-force-reinstates-tuskegee-airmen-backlash-pete-hegseth-katie-britt">surfaced</a> that the Air Force had removed (for “review”) instructional materials pertaining to the historical legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first black military pilots, along with material on the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), a paramilitary group that served during World War II. Among those outraged over the implications of this review was Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), who <a href="https://x.com/SenKatieBritt/status/1883623739763429512">deemed</a> the move “malicious compliance” on X, a sentiment Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1883628784160809314">echoed</a>. “This will not stand.” Shortly after, the Air Force <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74e175p40qo">confirmed</a> that “no curriculum or content highlighting the honor and valor of the Tuskegee Airmen or Women Air Force Service Pilots [was] removed from Basic Military Training.&#8221;
If, as some of DEI’s most outspoken allies maintain, critics of modern DEI initiatives are truly motivated by racial animus, or a sincere desire to whitewash America’s history, the <a href="https://www.afhistory.af.mil/FAQs/Fact-Sheets/Article/458979/tuskegee-airmen/">story</a> of the Tuskegee Airmen would definitely be on the chopping block.
<div id="attachment_866641" style="width: 755px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-866641" class="size-large wp-image-866641" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-115600234-745x576.jpg" alt="Tuskegee AirmenAugust 1944 - Fliers of a P-51 Mustang Group of the 15th Air Force in Italy shoot the breeze in the shadow of one of the Mustangs they fly. Tuskegee airmen, pilots of a P-51 Mustang Group of the 15th Air Force in Italy, shoot the breeze in the shadow of one of the Mustangs they fly, August 1944. They are, from left to right, Lt. Dempsey W. Morgan, Jr., Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelson, Jr., Captain Andrew D. Turner, and Lt. Clarence P. Lester. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images)" width="745" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-115600234-745x576.jpg 745w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-115600234-300x232.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-115600234-768x594.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-115600234.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px" />PhotoQuest/Getty Image</div>
Hailing from central Alabama, the Airmen had to overcome the pervasive Jim Crow laws often used to block black soldiers from becoming pilots. The Airmen, recognizable by their planes’ iconic red tails, <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-07/tuskegee-airmen.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">served</a> honorably in World War II despite facing bigotry and racism during their time in the armed forces, flying more than 15,000 missions. According to the National WWII Museum, “In all, the Tuskegee Airmen earned eight Purple Hearts, fourteen Bronze Stars, three Distinguished Unit Citations, and 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses.”
To understand their story, and the story of the many minorities who achieved success and greatness in America during that time, is to understand what real structural racism and anti-meritocratic prejudice looks like. Furthermore, to understand their crucial role in American history is to understand exactly why many modern arguments for DEI simply do not pass muster. The reality is that a black pilot in 1940 facing Jim Crow racism is not at all <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ibm-hosts-internships-that-bar-whites-asians-and-men-with-exception-for-men-who-identify-as-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analogous</a> to a potential IBM intern who happens to be an “underrepresented minority” facing a normal meritocratic selection process. And using the valor and perseverance of the former to justify “diversity” quotas that serve the latter is to cede that past discrimination requires present discrimination.
The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is a devastating argument against much of the modern DEI space. Thus, it’s suspicious that it’s even part of a conversation about ending DEI. The reality is that no serious DEI skeptics have any problem with the Tuskegee Airmen. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Katie Britt (R-AL) stating the obvious truth that DEI doesn’t just mean “anything involving minorities” is a win for sanity and normalcy. It’s a sign that conservatives can walk and chew gum at the same time — we can repudiate the extremes of DEI while being honest about what America’s victories over racism have actually cost.
As litmus tests go, that’s a basic one. But, given how many DEI advocates seemingly can’t pass it, it’s an important one.
* * *
Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work has been featured at outlets including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Opinion, C-SPAN, and The Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program and can be found on X <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-POLITICS-DEFENSE-HEGSETH

Restoring America Means More Tuskegee Airmen And Less DEI

Air Force

Alabama

Department of Defense

Pete Hegseth

U.S. Military

World War II

“DEI isn’t actually dead,” proclaimed a recent CNN headline, in a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/17/business/dei-isnt-actually-dead/index.html">piece</a> by consumer reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn that somehow managed to be both condescending and ignorant at the same time. CNN would like you to believe corporate diversity isn’t really going anywhere, just changing its external terminology from the oft-maligned term “DEI” to more nebulous terms like “belonging” and “inclusivity,” while maintaining all of its internal elements.
Personally, I both love and hate this piece and the viewpoint it belies. I love that CNN actually believes the DEI skeptic coalition — made up of many serious investors, dedicated state fiduciaries, and corporate engagement professionals — is naive enough to just go away because companies changed the names of their diversity departments. But I also hate that CNN’s dream scenario might actually happen. Let me explain.
The ball’s rolling. This year was a major step towards undoing the damage done by discriminatory diversity initiatives and rejecting the radicalism of much of modern &#8220;anti-racism.&#8221; And it&#8217;s not even just Trump’s victory (although America’s rejection of Kamala Harris is a lesson DEI advocates seem unwilling to learn). Thanks to the efforts of conservative activists like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walmart-caves-massive-retailer-the-next-woke-domino-to-fall-under-pressure-from-robby-starbuck" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robby Starbuck</a>, there is a growing list of companies walking back, slashing, or in some cases altogether removing their DEI initiatives.
There&#8217;s also the ever-growing wave of scrutiny on the discriminatory elements of DEI coming from <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/adf-calls-corporations-ditch-dei-policies-light-2024-election/">legal groups</a> like Alliance Defending Freedom, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-state-treasurers-investors-urge-major-companies-to-drop-discriminatory-dei-agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial officers</a> in red states, and of course the shareholders we represent every day in the corporate engagement world.
The halls of American academia are following suit, with campuses like the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/05/university-of-michigan-dei-cut" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Michigan</a> and <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/diversity/race-ethnicity/2024/07/31/u-missouri-axes-dei-office-pre-empt-state-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mizzou</a> overhauling their DEI initiatives. Even whole states like Idaho are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/idaho-board-education-bans-dei-offices-initiatives-all-public-universities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking steps</a> to stamp DEI out of publicly-funded institutions. And that’s not even considering the broader social pushback against the racialism that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-fate-of-the-racially-furious" target="_blank" rel="noopener">infected</a> American society post-George Floyd, from the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3148007/am-i-racist-fighting-the-culture-war-with-a-smile/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">success</a> of documentaries like Matt Walsh&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Am I Racist?</a>&#8220; to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/opinion/daniel-penny-jordan-neely-subway-killing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rejection</a> of the race narratives surrounding high-visibility court cases like Daniel Penny.
That’s the roadmap. And it’s easy to think the momentum of the battle against DEI’s problematic elements is all downhill from here. In reality, these are just the first steps, albeit crucial ones. The next steps? Keep walking the road. This is a labor that will take years — and losing momentum is the one thing we cannot afford. In fact, losing momentum is what the Left and the advocates of DEI’s most pernicious elements are counting on us to do. Seems unimaginable given the groundswell of anti-DEI, anti-ESG, and generally anti-woke sentiment that’s sprung up post-November. Give it time.
Post-inauguration, when life returns to normal, we have to keep at the task of rooting out the discriminatory and divisive ideology that so often permeates DEI programs. The staying force of the Left is tremendous. But we’re not just in a battle against the forces of the Left. We’re in a battle against the force of institutional inertia. If we stop, we lose. We must keep pushing. If you work for or own shares in a company with DEI programs, keep pushing for answers. If you’re at a college with a DEI program, keep pushing for answers. If we do these things, and don’t give up, 2025 can be America’s best year yet on rejecting the discrimination and divisiveness so many DEI programs promulgate.
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Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work has been featured at outlets including USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Opinion, C-SPAN and the Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program and can be found on X <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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