February, 2025
Washington — The Trump administration is freezing funds, firing people, and cutting off institutions based on association with something called D.E.I., which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. But D.E.I.'s definition is slippery and is sowing confusion across the country not only in federal agencies, but in state and local governments, colleges and universities, non-profit organizations, and even contractors.
Rather than trying to define D.E.I., it would be better to state clearly what organizations stand for. That could be done in a simple code that comports with current law and would terminate any past associations, real or imagined.
This would allow us to move forward rather than bicker and litigate endlessly about what D.E.I. was or was not. Take note, party leaders and elected officials.
Suggested code:
I. In our organization, as a matter of policy, we base human resource and human development decisions on individual dignity and decency, not on a person's membership in any group defined by race, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, physical characteristics, or ancestry.
II. Our decisions are based on humanitarian ideals of improving individual lives and reducing suffering, as informed by moral and ethical codes of antiquity, such as the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, and of the Enlightenment, such as the Declaration of Independence, as well as many decades of American experience under the rule of law.
III. Nothing in this code precludes geographical or economic classifications employed to improve individual lives, such as grants, tax preferences, and programs that may be targeted toward broad categories such as the Working Class, or consideration of individual circumstances that give rise to humanitarian action.
IV. This code replaces any previous policies or administrative practices that could be interpreted otherwise.
