In halting Trump ban on DEI, judge sides with patriotism for America | Opinion
In 'Hillbilly Elegy,' JD Vance wrote he felt enriched by diversity at Yale Law School. Every college student should experience how pluralism is patriotism.
The debate over diversity, equity and inclusion is giving me whiplash.
On Jan. 21, a day after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on all federal agencies to “to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”
Then the White House directed federal agencies to put on leave employees who were in DEI roles, including those who had simply attended a diversity training.
On Feb. 14, Trump’s Education Department issued a "Dear Colleague" letter declaring all race-conscious preferences and activities on college campuses “repugnant,” and threatening to withdraw federal funds unless they are shuttered beginning within 14 days.
Everything seemed headed in the anti-DEI direction until Friday, when a sudden turnabout took place: U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson temporarily blocked Trump’s anti-DEI directives, claiming that they were unconstitutionally vague and could violate the First Amendment.
82% of Americans agree 'racial diversity benefits the country'
For me, one of the saddest parts of the rancor over DEI is that it obscures a basic truth: A majority of Americans believe that our nation’s diversity is inspiring.
In a recent study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that 82% of Americans agreed with statements like “racial diversity benefits the country.”
In his beautiful memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," Vice President JD Vance revealed that he also felt enriched by diversity.
Referring to his favorite course at Yale Law School, Vance wrote, “We called ourselves the island of misfit toys … a conservative hillbilly from Appalachia, the supersmart daughter of Indian immigrants, a black Canadian with decades’ worth of street smarts, a neuroscientist from Phoenix, an aspiring civil rights attorney born a few minutes from Yale’s campus, and an extremely progressive lesbian with a fantastic sense of humor.”
Vance went on to characterize the class as not just an excellent learning environment, but also as a group that became “a kind of family” to him.
Every college student should have that experience. Every campus should be that environment.
Indeed, one of the reasons that our system of higher education is the envy of the world is that it gathers people of diverse identities and divergent ideologies into a community of knowledge production and professional preparation.
Why pluralism is patriotism
Such environments don’t simply happen, they need to be intentionally curated. This means that universities need professionals who excel at cultivating campus communities characterized by pluralism.
Developed in the early 20th century by American thinkers, pluralism is an intellectual tradition that recognizes that particular identities give meaning to people’s lives and vitality to our democracy.
Horace Kallen was famous for arguing against assimilation. He believed that America was more like an orchestra than a melting pot, diverse identity communities bringing their distinct instruments to the stage. He was proud of his Jewish culture, which he referred to as Hebraism, and wanted to be able to express it openly.
Kallen’s friend Alain Locke, a classmate at both Harvard and Oxford, was profoundly influenced by Kallen’s idea of cultural pluralism. He applied it to his own African American tradition and went on to become a principal figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
John Dewey agreed that encouraging diverse identities to share their cultures was positive. Picking up Kallen’s metaphor of an orchestra, he wanted diverse cultural groups to bring their instruments to the stage. But, Dewey pointed out to Kallen, "upon condition we really get a symphony and not a lot of different instruments playing simultaneously.”
For pluralism to work, you needed to focus on more than the expression of diverse identities. You needed experts in cooperation.
A college campus is a mini national stage. It is the perfect environment for different groups to improve at their instruments, bring them to a common space and learn to play harmoniously together.
Every campus should have a team of pluralism professionals who can help students from a range of identities ‒ Democrats and Republicans, Jews and Muslims, Northerners and Southerners, pacifists and proud veterans – perform well in the classroom and find their place in the broader campus.
Furthermore, pluralism professionals must be especially good at facilitating cooperation among these groups ‒ especially the ones who have deep disagreements. A polarized nation should be able to look to its campuses and see models of civil dialogue and positive engagement.
When there are conflicts between identity groups on the other side of the world, campuses should be places where there are constructive conversations between diaspora communities here.
Diversity work done this way should make Americans proud of their nation. In other words, pluralism is patriotism. It views America’s variety as a treasure, identity as a source of pride and cooperation as better than division.
Let’s stop fighting over DEI. Let’s start recognizing that diversity can be unifying rather than divisive. Let’s work to make our college campuses models of pluralism.
Eboo Patel is founder and president of Interfaith America, an organization that works with college campuses on diversity programs.