Today, in honor of Constitution Day, the Texas Public Policy released new research, focused on diversity,
equity, and inclusion programs. The new paper, “DEI Versus the Declaration of Independence,” tackles
the collision course between DEI programs and the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence,
and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

“America stands at a crossroads: It can re-embrace the color-blind, meritocratic principle of equality of
opportunity, enshrined as primary among the self-evident truths listed in our Declaration of
Independence, or it can continue to bow to DEI’s trinity of race, class, and gender,” said Tom Lindsay,
distinguished senior fellow for TPPF’s Next Generation Texas. “But it cannot do both.”

Key Points

  • DEI, masking itself as minority recruitment tools for students and faculty, distorts the affirmative
    terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion into divisive and alienating policies that weaken the
    academic strength of our students and faculty and alienate many, including minorities.
  • Our country can either have the vision of humanity guiding DEI or it can have the moral vision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution. It cannot have both.
  • Diversity,” in practice on our campuses, has come to signify an antimerit perspective, leading a number of universities to lean toward banning words in job descriptions such as, “meritocracy,”
    “color-blind,” “best qualified,” and “good fit.”
  • The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s insistence on color-blind equality, or meritocracy, would make him persona non grata in today’s DEI world.
  • DEI’s notion of equity, or equal outcomes, stands in direct opposition to the thought of James Madison, hailed as “the Father of the Constitution.” For Madison, equal opportunity naturally yields unequal results—so long as people are free to express their different opinions and exercise their different capacities.

To read the full paper, click here.