Trump’s Boogeyman: D.E.I.

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Obama, News, Wnyc, Washington, Barack, President, Lizza, Wickenden

4.2 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

Many of the most draconian measures implemented in the first couple weeks of the new Trump Administration have been justified as emergency actions to root out D.E.I.—diversity, equity, and inclusion—including the freeze (currently rescinded) of trillions of dollars in federal grants. The tragic plane crash in Washington, the President baselessly suggested, might also be the result of D.E.I. Typically, D.E.I. describes policies at large companies or institutions to encourage more diverse workplaces. In the Administration’s rhetoric, D.E.I. is discrimination pure and simple, and the root of much of what ails the nation. “D.E.I. is the boogeyman for anything,” Jelani Cobb tells David Remnick. Cobb is a longtime staff writer, and the dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. “If there’s a terrible tragedy . . . if there is something going wrong in any part of your life, if there are fires happening in California, then you can bet that, somehow, another D.E.I. is there.” Although affirmative-action policies in university admissions were found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, D.E.I. describes a broad array of actions without a specific definition. “It’s that malleability,” Cobb reflects, that makes D.E.I. a useful target, “one source that you can use to blame every single failing or shortcoming or difficulty in life on.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the political scene. I'm David Remnick.
0:08.5	Early each week, we bring you a conversation from our episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour.
0:16.3	Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:19.6	Well, the opening weeks of the Trump administration
0:22.0	seemed to have followed a mantra from Facebook's earlier years. Move fast and break things. And break
0:28.6	them into a thousand pieces before anyone will notice. Last week, we woke up to Elon Musk,
0:34.3	bragging that he was feeding a congressionally authorized agency with a 40-plus
0:39.1	billion dollar budget into, and I quote, a wood chipper. Breaking things at warp speed is very much
0:46.3	the point now. Many of the most draconian measures have been justified as emergency actions to
0:52.3	root out DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
0:56.2	These are typically programs put in place by large companies or institutions or government agencies
1:01.5	to encourage more diverse workplaces. But the administration characterizes DEI as discrimination
1:08.1	and broadly is the root of so much of what ails this nation.
1:12.6	The temporary freeze of trillions of dollars in federal grants since rescinded was described as
1:18.3	an anti-DEI measure, and the tragic plane crash in Washington, the president also suggested,
1:24.0	might well be the result of yes, DEI. To understand what's happening here and why, I sat down
1:30.9	the other day with Jolani Cobb. Jolani Cobb is a longtime staff writer at The New Yorker, and he's a historian
1:37.0	and the dean of Columbia University's journalism school.
1:44.2	Jelani, barely two or three weeks in office, Donald Trump has gone after academia, journalism, and
1:53.0	diversity.
1:53.8	So you're a dean, you're a journalist, and guess what?
1:58.5	So how you're holding up?
	...

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