Would MLK Reject Discriminatory DEI Initiatives?

Would the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. support “woke” activists’ push for “diversity, equity, and inclusion”? Certainly not, writes commentator Christian Watson, spokesperson for Color Us United and host of the Pensive Politics podcast, at Newsweek.

“DEI proponents claim the route to ‘equity’—a term they have used to supplant genuine equality—requires affirmative racial discrimination in reverse. It is not enough to provide equal opportunity for all Americans; corporations, universities, and other organizations must prioritize race, even if they do so to the detriment of everything else,” adds Watson, who in 2021 spoke at a Goldwater Institute event about how young Americans can reclaim their individuality, take responsibility for their own lives, and chart their own pathway for success.

“At its foundation, DEI does not support the notion that all men are created equal. DEI proponents assume racial minorities are still placed at an inherent structural disadvantage, and that white America is systemically racist. In turn, they demand corrective intervention by institutions in the form of DEI training,” he adds in Newsweek.

That’s not all.

“They also assume that supposed systemic injustice can only be corrected by woke principles, such as giving Blacks affirmative preference over whites in hiring and promotion decisions,” Watson writes. “They argue it is only possible to fight injustice with equally unjust tactics. In short, they do not believe nonwhite Americans can succeed on an even playing field.”

But MLK, Watson explains, opposed all forms of discrimination.

“Equality—not ‘equity’—is central to King’s ethos. Equality, woven into America’s Founding via the Declaration of Independence, is the belief that all human beings possess the same fundamental human dignity, regardless of skin color or any other arbitrary distinctions. ‘Equity,’ as used by modern DEI and critical race theory ideologues, is the notion that certain groups of people are disadvantaged, and therefore deserve special treatment over more ‘privileged’ groups,” Watson says.

You can read the rest of Christian Watson’s op-ed at Newsweek.