Tesla founder and eccentric billionaire Elon Musk says that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are a form of discrimination and must come to an end.
Musk took to X, formerly Twitter, to vent his frustration with the initiatives incorporated into businesses, places of higher education, and other sectors of American society.
Musk Unhappy With DEI Initiatives
On December 15, Musk, wrote, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” are propaganda words for racism, sexism, and other -isms.”
He continued, “This is just as morally wrong as any other racism and sexism. Changing the target class doesn’t make it right!”
DEI Must DIE
The Tesla founder went one step further and alluded to his belief that DEI initiatives must be removed from American society.
“DEI must DIE. The point was to end discrimination, not replace it with different discrimination,” Musk wrote in a second tweet on the topic.
Conservatives Work To Remove DEI Inclusion Offices
According to Yahoo!, Musk’s recent tweets align with the efforts of conservatives across the nation to eliminate DEI positions in higher education.
A recent announcement by the University of Oklahoma claims they will comply with an executive order issued by Kevin Stitt, the state’s governor. It plans to eliminate all DEI inclusion offices at the state’s public universities.
Professor Disagrees With Conservative Beliefs
Not everyone is happy with the pushback against the removal of DEI inclusion offices across the nation.
In an op-ed for Time, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University, claims conservatives are working hard to remove DEI initiatives.
McDonnell Claims Conservatives Are Wrong To Cancel DEI
In an article titled, “DEI Is Not The Monster Here”, McDonnell wrote, “Under the guise of a commitment to a classical liberal education, right-wing critics are pursuing illiberal ends that deny the value of diversity altogether.”
He continued, “They ignore or downplay the history of exclusion that has defined much of the history of places like Princeton, Harvard, or Yale. For them, meritocracy alone resolves historical inequity.”
Musk Claims Come While Tesla Is Being Sued
Musk’s tweets centered on DEI come at a time when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Tesla Inc. over concerns raised by employees about racial harassment.
According to the EEOC’s press release, “Since at least 2015 to the present, Black employees at Tesla’s Fremont, California manufacturing facilities have routinely endured racial abuse, pervasive stereotyping, and hostility.”
Racial Remarks On Teslas Factory Floor
Throughout the lengthy press release, the EEOC claims that numerous harmful and racist comments were made to black employees.
EEOC said, “as well as epithets such as variations of the N-word, ‘monkey,’ ‘boy,’ and ‘Black b*tch.’ Slurs were used casually and openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs.”
EEOC Seeking Compensatory Damages
The EEOC is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as back pay for the workers who were subject to racist remarks.
According to their report, they also want to introduce an injunction aimed at forcing Tesla to change its practices so this kind of discrimination doesn’t occur again in the future.
Tesla Diversity Numbers Revealed
Tesla’s diversity numbers were made public for the first time this past June. The reports show the majority of the electric vehicle company’s employees are men.
Approximately 70-80% of Tesla’s workforce is men, and the males make up the majority of upper management and executive positions of the company.
DDI Diversity Report 2023
According to DDI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Report 2023, organizations that are open to DEI initiatives that help to prioritize employees of various demographics tend to be more successful at making money and retaining their talent.
Also, they frequently appear more often on the “best places to work” list.
DEI Initiatives Bring a Higher Percentage of Women
The DDI report also summarized that “In organizations where HR reported that they have a high-quality DEI program, there was a significantly higher percentage of women leaders at every level.”
They continued, “The impact on minorities is even greater, as companies with high-quality DEI programs have nearly double the percentage of leaders from minority racial and ethnic backgrounds.”
