The American Academy of Dermatology on Sunday voted to reject a proposal to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, in what Black dermatologists are calling a small victory for the organization and the field in general.
The academy, a nonprofit organization of dermatologists in the U.S. and Canada, has been embroiled in DEI-related controversy since February, when dozens of members co-authored a resolution looking to put an end to DEI initiatives and programs being implemented in the institution. The group called the resolution “Sunsetting all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs” and held that the “DEI movement” would do more harm than good to the branch of medicine. News of the resolution spread quickly, with several news outlets detailing the diversity battle brewing in the AAD.
After a race scandal involving the CEO at my job, we’ve all been taking DEI training. The latest one took months to complete. They aren’t one-off “be nice to each other” bs webinars. They’re deep dives into the history and origins of racism, from the feudal lords in Europe inventing indentured servitude and how that morphed into slavery, to redlining and how that impedes generational wealth.
The only reasonable conclusion you can come to, if you honestly engage with the material, is that capitalism and its interests lie beneath all forms of discrimination and inequity. Corporations were all into DEIA when they thought it was good PR that made them look good to customers and improved staff morale. But then, the material starts giving those employees ideas. That’s what this recent push-back on DEIA is about.
See, and I think more people could benefit from those. Our DEI training is like a 15 minute video and then a 7 question quiz. “Karen called Sharon the N word in an email, was that bad??!? (Y/N)”. It really is no wonder that a large swath of people think dei is a joke. In a lot of places it IS a joke.
If you’re interested, try this: https://mvmt10k.org/
Site’s broken
It’s back up as of last night.