LETTER: DEI opponents want to discriminate

After the terrible crash in D.C. that killed 67 people, Donald Trump was publicly saying that he suspected DEI policies had caused it. Diversity, equality and inclusion has become an easily mouthed catchphrase that people throw around without even thinking of it’s meaning.

I knew immediately what Mr. Trump was going for: that one of the pilots or air traffic controllers was either a woman, a person of color or someone else who was not a white male. How sad that what we say this country believes in has become a pejorative.

As a woman who worked a job that has mostly been done by men — railroad engineer — I can tell you that it was not made easier for me to qualify for the job. To the contrary, it was made harder because so many of the men felt the job should not go to a woman. I never would have had the chance had President Lyndon Johnson not declared that everyone deserves an equal chance. That is the DEI that has come under such ridicule lately.

When you get rid of DEI, you’re saying that it’s OK to discriminate against anyone unlike yourself. A company can dismiss someone who is gay, refuse to hire someone who is Black or just not promote a woman to a job she deserves in order to favor a less-qualified man. The person discriminated against could very well be a friend, relative or even you.