I saw "Didn't Earn It" was trending on Twitter, and I immediately assumed it was about trump, because I have never seen anyone fail upwards so much, and catch so many undeserved breaks. But no -- it was a bunch of racist assholes who decided to wrongly interpret DEI as "Didn't Earn It." OK, so let's talk about how the right has weaponized the efforts to level the playing field, and somehow turned it into something that is wrong and unfair. Wrong and unfair? Let's talk about how 200+ years of slavery gave America its unearned head start in the world economy from the benefit of FREE slave labor that they haven't even had to pay reparations for. When I was growing up, my Mom told me that, being Black, we have to work twice as hard, and be twice as smart in order to get the same things that White people get without all the effort. And millions of other parents have told their kids this, and it just made us work harder. There's a false narrative on the right, a steady drumbeat of grievance, that somehow less qualified candidates of color are stealing highly coveted positions away from more qualified White candidates because of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) standards being observed in the workplace. Having a "diverse" staff or company doesn't mean you sacrifice skill or quality. Quite the opposite, actually. The system had been rigged against us for a LONG time, and I'm not even talking about the disgusting way Black people were prevented from drinking out of the same water fountain, or using the same bathroom as recently as the 60s. I'm talking about the practice of banks refusing loans to Black families, or racist employers refusing to hire perfectly qualified Black people solely based on their race. And often, if the name on a job application was "Leroy Jones," it would inevitably be passed over automatically for a "Chad Wilmington." These prejudices against people of color are hard wired in -- many generations of parents and grandparents raised their kids with hate, telling them they were better than us, and that we didn't deserve equal treatment. Just because the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed didn't mean that someone snapped their fingers and people stopped being racist. It did help to level the playing field a bit, but progress was still a hard-fought struggle. 10 years after it was passed, racist realtors like trump rigged a system to prevent Black people from renting his properties during the 70s, and he lost a lawsuit filed against him for the practice. That's only ONE instance of the rigged system. just Google "redlining," and you'll see countless others. We're not asking for an unfair advantage, just that our highly qualified candidates don't get systematically and unfairly buried behind others because of our race. Look at Kentanji Brown Jackson: she's more qualified and has more trial court experience than any sitting Supreme Court justice and more than any justice since Edward Sanford in 1923. She is undeniably one of the best and brightest in her position, and in a trump administration would have been passed over for a Judge Beer Keg. By contrast, Amy Coney Barrett (who is White) is objectively the LEAST qualified Justice in decades, having submitted a mere 1,800 pages of material, compared to 75,000 by Justice Roberts, 170,000 by Justice Kagan, and 180,000 by Justice Gorsuch. Donald trump incredulously appointed his clueless, dead-eyed son-in-law to several White House positions, despite his own inability to correctly complete basic security forms. He'd also made other head-scratching, dubious appointments that included Betsy DeVos, Steve Bannon, Rick Perry and on and on. Failing upward is White privilege. The rest of us don't get to do that, and it's what they accuse DEI of doing. But probably the BIGGEST beneficiary of White privilege, the most failing-upward, winner of "Didn't Earn It" honors is Donald trump. He was born on third base, and STILL needed a tremendous amount of help reaching home plate. He started off with a "small loan" from his father totaling anywhere from $14 million to as much as $413 million from tax dodges, according to Associated Press estimates. And he parlayed that into SIX bankruptcies, including three casinos: Trump Taj Mahal in 1991, Trump Castle Hotel and Casino in 1992, and Trump Plaza Casino in 1992. His now defunct trump University shelled out $25 million in a fraud lawsuit settlement. His trump Foundation was closed after a $2 million settlement for misuse of a charity -- he used it for a political campaign. And then, after being exposed for laughing and bragging about sexual assault, he was elected President. THEN, he was impeached twice, for attempted extortion and insurrection. He LOST his reelection effort massively by 7 million votes, stole classified documents, was indicted on 91 felony counts, was found liable for sexual assault (which the judge later explained it could be considered rape), has been fined half a billion dollars before having his fine reduced to "only" $175 million. If that isn't the embodiment of "Didn't Earn It," then nothing is. trump doesn't HAVE to bust his ass to be better, because he is White. One of his professors at Wharton, in fact, said trump was "the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!" He is a failed businessman, failed human being who has discriminated against Black people, an adjudicated rapist, a lying conman and fraudster who is now selling gold sneakers and Bibles. And he's the front runner of the Republican party for President. Former President Obama, meanwhile, graduated from Columbia University in 1983 with a B.A. in political science, then graduated magna cum laude in 1991 from Harvard University's law school where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He was elected to the Illinois State Senate before winning aa seat in the U.S. Senate, and then became the FIRST African American President of the United States in history. And STILL trump questioned his legitimacy and his citizenship -- even as he achieved more academically and professionally than most adults do in a lifetime, it STILL wasn't enough for America's racists. So you racists can take all of that "Didn't Earn It" bullshit and shove it right up your own asses. Diversity is the future of America. If you don't like it, LEAVE.
Hi Dad, where you been? I must admit, I didn't read the whole thing, but from what I did read, I think you are really passionate about divergence and so am I. Not enough to write a nice long post like that, but I can add a p.s. if you need it. I said all that to say, you are so right and until the rest of the country, and the world, begin to understand the chaos will continue. You are a warrior my friend and if need be, I would be honored to be a warrior alongside you.
@mmpadellan Wow, BD! Really well done my friend!👏👏👏👏👏 I hope you don’t mind if I send it to everyone I know.💞💞💞
@mmpadellan Excellent & thorough post, BDD 👏🏼
@mmpadellan I am now following you. As a 63 year old caucasian Irishman I do my best to make sure I check myself on a regular basis. Even when going through some shit, (also gay) I know I have it much easier because of my skin color. Thank you for your eloquent writing.