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CULTURE
How Anti-DEI is Re-Igniting Racist Rhetoric of Segregationists
There’s a shared objective here, blocking progress
Segregationists positioned themselves as the core opposition to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s. They believed, in no unsettled terms, that America’s communities, businesses, and schools should remain separated by race. Herman Talmadge, who at one point served as U.S. Senator for Georgia, claimed, “There aren’t enough troops in the whole United States to make the white people of this state send their children to schools with colored children.” Of course, history would prove him wrong, as public schools would eventually become integrated. Yet, his ideas reflected the sentiment held by many at the time. And it’s not as if those racist beliefs faded away. Sixty years after Congress passed The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans are still living in a nation “de-facto” segregated by race and class. While the “whites-only” signs have been retired, those openly opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion have re-ignited the rhetoric of segregationists.
Whether we will live in a nation where Black people are treated as equals or second-class citizens truly depends on the values of those in power. Take, for instance, the speech delivered by then-Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1963, where he drew a parallel between segregationists’ efforts and those in the Confederacy, the group that fought to preserve slavery. Interestingly, his speech did not focus on explicit hatred for Black people or other minorities. Instead, his words were entrenched in the language of freedom and bravery. “Let us rise to the call of freedom-loving blood that is in us and send our answer to the tyranny that clanks its chains upon the South,” Wallace pronounced. You would think that White Americans were under siege, given this language. And yet, we must not forget that Wallace delivered this speech to protest integration, not to protect White people from any real threat or danger.
Wallace and others saw racial progress as a form of tyranny. This is reminiscent of rhetoric espoused by some in the modern era when White people talk about their resistance to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. For instance, Jay Schalin, a conservative author, referred to DEI…
