DEI or DIE: A Reversal Back to White Supremacy

Ramón Del Castillo, PhD

Posted May 22, 2025

In my last column, I made brief innuendos regarding racial antipathy as another feature of totalitarianism. It doesn’t strike me as something new. Racism has its roots in colonization as far back as history can take us. As Robin Diangelo, in her book White Fragility quotes African American scholar and filmmaker, Omowale Akintunde, “Racism is a systemic, societal, institutional, omnipresence, and epistemologically embedded phenomenon that pervades every vestige of our reality.”

What was mentioned in the analyses of the books I referenced in my last column was the hysterical fear Anglo Americans possess relative to the inevitability of a Multiracial Democracy in American politics. If this were to come to fruition, what might this phenomenon produce in American society? The reaction has already begun.

From a critical perspective, one has to ask why an analysis of race was excluded in the books that are considered premier, written by well-known authors. Failure to include racism leads one to believe that race is not generally considered, except superficially in American politics. I am going to include the question of race history in this column and explore the current and continued ramifications of multiracial issues in a democracy.

Sometimes culture wars are more destructive than actual combat.

President Trump is at War with three major battles against inter-related, but distinct phenomena: DEI, Culture Wars, and WOKE. White racial superiority has a long history in America—of struggle, conflict, and superficial remediation. Why would the introduction of a Multicultural Democracy cause undue angst from an Anglo population? DEI seems to be part of the true American creed—that every American has an equal chance to succeed. The possibility of oppressed groups being purposely excluded from their fundamental civil rights again is real. Let’s examine the forces that are driving this backward thinking.

DEI, as part of the trifecta concepts mentioned previously, faces extinction. It was intended to add racial balance and equity to a social history that had permanent racial blinders attached to it. These social constructs were developed, refined, and introduced into the American consciousness to enhance the common good in civil society. As a good friend of mine, Dr. Frank Davila recently wrote in an essay regarding DEI: “Diversity, equity, and inclusion is a mindset, a belief, and a practice that needs to be nourished daily “to form a more perfect Union.”

Since the inception of the aforementioned phenomena, pushback has become normalized. DEI garnered meaningful momentum during the era of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Its basic tenet outlawed employment discrimination. During its heyday, affirmative action was introduced as a public policy to protect race and gender identities, and eventually embodied other significant identities. Its’ antithesis, came in a court hearing where reverse racism was used as an argument in the Bakke Decision (1978) that outlawed racial quotas.

DEI insured equal employment opportunities and gender equality. From an educational perspective, DEI was intended to add alternative perspectives into how history had been taught in America’s institutions and what curricula would be used. In education, the Master Narrative was developed through tainted glasses—omitting the contributions that many America’s groups, such as Latinos, African Americans, Asians, and Native Americans and a modicum of other oppressed groups had contributed. These groups had become invisible in history, seldom mentioned, except in perfunctory statements with very little analysis. The current administration and its blind followers are racializing this concept, with an reappearance of reverse racism. Playing the reverse racism game doesn’t fare well with a group whose ancestors institutionalized colonialism throughout the Western Hemisphere. Other elements critical to DEI are,

The history of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in the United States is rooted in the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for equal rights, particularly in the mid-20th century. It gained significant momentum after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed employment discrimination, and the subsequent implementation of affirmative action policies. Over time, the concept expanded beyond race and gender to encompass a broader range of identities and needs.

For too long, our White brothers and sisters mistakenly used race as part of the natural order of human beings—forgetting that race is a social construct. Through the powers of rationalization, it was assumed that Persons of Color were inferior; therefore, requiring paternalistic care. The death of DEI is near as the current administration continues on its backpedaling path towards White Supremacy. Guided by the false premise of the superiority of the Anglo population in this country, the President is stating they are purging People of Color histories and cultures in the nation to rebuild one ideology. One does not have to guess what color will be saluted and honored in this country and what ideology he will embrace—White Supremacy. His policy for Afrikaners to be issued “protective status due to racism in Africa, is a prime example.

Arguments that DEI has been weaponized include,

“The backlash against DEI emanates from a mix of political, social, and economic factors. The antagonists argue that DEI programs “unfairly disadvantage certain groups and hinder merit-based selection.” The rallying cry is meritocracy. Some believe that DEI enforce particular ideologies, but to not address the root causes of inequality.

President Trump has vowed to abolish DEI, attacking universities, research institutes, and other prestigious organizations that have embraced this concept. While its intention was to add and seemingly meld into how a Society can become more culturally diverse, with equality as an outcome, it has now become an enemy to the Right. This innovation is facing a formidable outcome.

The Culture Wars is not a new phenomenon either. It is as American as Apple Pie. America has a history of racial and cultural conflict between and among group of color. One of the functions of Culture Wars is to create polarization, a concept I used in my last column. When polarization leads to division within the group, the final outcome translates into political powerlessness. The creation and utilization of Wedge Issues is another characteristic in American political discourse and used as a weapon in the Culture Wars. One method used to divide groups is through the insertion of an idea that will spilt the group. When unbeknownst infiltrators sneak into groups, they design methods to extrapolate information from group members under false pretenses. The idea is then used to divide the group. This occurred during my political dealings in the community four decades ago. Infiltrators create wedge issues that eventually lead to splitting.

Culture wars can also be used to form bloc votes in politics, cause havoc, and instigate controversy. An example in the “2010’s was the Gamergate Gamergate (disambiguation).Salter, Michael (2017).

The Gamergate controversy was a misogynistic online harassment campaign targeting women in the video game industry, particularly Anita Sarkeesian, Zoë Quinn, and Brianna Wu. The campaign, which began in 2014, was driven by a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. “Gamergate and the subpolitics of abuse in online publics”. Crime, Justice and Social Media. New York: Routledge. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-13-891966-2. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.

What would it take to stop the Culture Wars? The Right would love complete capitulation from the left and will use all of it resources to cause this. Sometimes culture wars are more destructive than actual combat. Those who have the money, also have the power. For the left, we have the ability to organize, build the power base, and stop the production process.

The birth of WOKE has historical linkage to the Black experience wherein Black folk were advised to walk with caution when engaging with the White population. “They were told to stay “woke.” This concept gained popularity as a clarion call when social injustice, discrimination and racial tensions were escalating. To be “WOKE” meant that no longer would Persons of Color remain silent at the whims of the oppressor. It was translated into a complete understanding and conscious raising regarding social injustice. Liberatory education was used to encourage individuals to become further educated and aware of structural inequality. However, the meaning was weaponized into an ideological construct. It was meant for all but twisted to serve just the oppressed.

An example of how WOKE has been further manipulated has been accomplished by Governor Ron DeSantis from Florida who implemented school policies that prohibit and/or restrict the teaching of racial differences, and an omission of oppression as a viable concept that explains social, psychological, and economic differences. The Power of Language How WOKE Went from “Black to Bad,” by Ishena Robinson.

The multi strategical approach, that is, the erosion of public policy, creation of unjust laws, infiltration of school curricula, reduction of diversity in the military, squelching freedom of speech, and the demise of a free press (Associated Press, NPR, and PBS), are Anti-Constitutional and antithetical to a True Democracy.

We either stand together or we fall one by one.

5-20-2025.