Categories: The Snag

DEI and Our Failed Leadership

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May 5, 2024, 6 PM ET

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While the Israel-Hamas war was certainly the trigger for the anti-Israel and antisemitic college protests sweeping the U.S., a lot that happened beforehand that not only enabled this, but made it an inevitability. And anti-Israel sentiment was predictable where students are indoctrinated with DEI ideology. For those who want a background of understanding into DEI, it is well worth reading/listening the far-Left’s long march on college campuses with Christopher Rufo’s “America’s Cultural Revolution.” I also strongly recommend James Lindsay’s lecture, “The Real DEI Program.” But in addition to asking generally what went wrong on campus and what the far-Left really wants, it is worth asking if our mainstream secular communal leaders entrusted to protect us did so effectively. Unfortunately, the opposite is the reality. And nowhere is that more true than with the ADL. To understand specifically how DEI harms Jews, we need to understand the single most important question DEI and its Critical Race Theory asks in any conflict: "Which party has more white privilege in the current context?" That is the only question that matters. Whether Jews are white today, what about WWII, or that there are black Jews, none of that matters in DEI rules. And mainstream Jews do not get to change those rules. If you don’t like those rules and what they have led to, then you should accept that DEI is a terrible threat to the American Jewish community and to American support for Israel. But the ADL and others thought -- and still think – that they can create a Jewish “carveout” within DEI. as Jewish Insider noted in their article, “Jewish communal leaders still committed to DEI framework, despite widespread criticism,” with ADL’s Neufeld noting, “This is a university president problem and part of it, we think, is universities fixing their DEI to include antisemitism.” But as Bill Ackman and others have noted in their advocacy, there is no fixing DEI, rather, DEI is a major part of the problem. And if you think it is just naive, midlevel midwits like Neufeld messing things up at an otherwise helpful organization, think again. While some overtly anti-white racist screeds from the ADL have been scrubbed from their websites, some including the most overtly radical theories such as critical race theory remain:

PART 2⃣ in @ADL West's webinar series this Thursday (8/12) where we will unpack the purpose and need for DEI frameworks and explore how anti-bias and anti-racist principles help to foster a sense of belonging for all school stakeholders.
Register: https://t.co/KnQyXuZFVt pic.twitter.com/9dRJ9UNmKR — ADL Pacific Northwest (@ADLPNW) August 10, 2021

And like the Yididsh saying, the fish stinks from the head.

This #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth is a perfect time to recommit to diversity, equity, and inclusion with @ADL’s Antisemitism 101, a free 40-minute module designed specifically for the workplace. Find more details at https://t.co/RmH2nBOBgk pic.twitter.com/KevvX8qgFl
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) May 16, 2023

As Jonathan Tobin noted,“the @ADL was caught peddling school curricula riddled with toxic critical race theory ideas linked to the anti-Semitism they're supposed to be fighting.”

Don't be surprised the @ADL was caught peddling school curricula riddled with toxic critical race theory ideas linked to the anti-Semitism they're supposed to be fighting. Under @JGreenblattADL it has betrayed its mission. I explain in @NewsweekOpinion. https://t.co/pxD1VbjRyx
— Jonathan S. Tobin (@jonathans_tobin) September 9, 2022

To fix DEI, we need to get rid of DEI, and not hope or be satisfied that the worst elements of it are no longer being publicly promoted by our own supposed “defense” organizations. And that means actual consequences for those who have done so. We need to clean our own house if we expect others to clean theirs. Jonathan Greenblatt must be fired, replaced by a new chief without a history of DEI support. And all underlings who supported DEI and Critical Race Theory must be fired as well. In doing so, we will be a light upon the nation.