Standing Up to DEI Activism
A Guide for Executives
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) was sold as a way to empower your business by rooting out bigotry. Instead, you are under pressure as never before: to mouth slogans you don’t agree with, promote causes you don’t believe in, to introduce policies and practices that aren’t aligned with your company’s mission.
In the name of “diversity” you are ordered to hire people based on their group identity, especially on the basis of sex and skin color. In the name of “equity” you are ordered to redistribute power and resources to achieve equal outcomes for “oppressed” groups. In the name of “inclusion” you are ordered to police speech and behavior that offends “oppressed” groups.
This is no accident. DEI activists are motivated by a radical ideology opposed to business, capitalism, Americanism, and colorblindness. In their view, the world is made up of groups with power oppressing groups without power. Our capitalist system is designed to protect and reward oppressors; the solution is to transform and overthrow the system by redistributing power from oppressors to the oppressed. That starts in the boardroom. It ends in Washington.
DEI activists aim to use you and your company as tools to achieve their political and social goals. You have a responsibility—to yourself, your shareholders, and the team that you lead—to question those goals, to understand the threat they pose to your business, and to oppose DEI activism in a way that is principled but practical.
This guide for executives explains the theory behind DEI activism, how DEI initiatives harm companies, and the steps businesses can and should take to counter DEI activism. It also includes high-level messaging for companies that can reframe the debate and put DEI activists on the defensive.
TALKING POINTS FOR EXECUTIVES
We believe in individual choice and character.
• We believe that individuals are defined by their own character, choices, and actions—not by their group identity.
• Our commitment is to find the individuals who can make the best contribution to our company’s mission and pay them accordingly.
We believe in justice.
• We believe in rewarding individuals according to what they earn.
• We reject “equity” or any other goal that rewards or penalizes individuals for reasons other than their productive contributions to our organization’s mission.
• We reject as bigotry any call to discriminate against or in favor of individuals on the basis of characteristics such as skin color or sex.
• Our commitment is to identify and remove any barriers to fairness so that all of our team members can thrive.
We believe in capitalism.
• We believe that capitalism is the only system that allows individuals to pursue their own success and happiness by protecting their rights and freedom: the free market unleashes the power of the human mind and the entrepreneurial energy of every worker.
• We proudly support capitalism, which protects the inviolate right of every human being to cooperate with others voluntarily for mutual benefit or to chart their own course.
• We believe that historical injustices like slavery represent the failure to live up to capitalist ideals—they are not grounds for condemning capitalism.
• Our commitment is to champion freedom and use our freedom to create the best company and the best products we can.
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A friend noted that we should always call it, “Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity”, since the resulting acronym better represents the outcome of its practice.
DEI is a pernicious form of collectivism that can destroy the workforce of any company.