Blindness and Indifference
with John McWhorter
The Trump administration is rolling back DEI excesses, and it’s moving fast. But in this clip, John and I wonder aloud whether ordinary acknowledgments of the country’s racial past and progress—like Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day—will fall by the wayside as well. There is a difference, after all, between “colorblindess,” which is the attempt to treat everyone equally no matter their race or ethnicity, and “indifference,” which is a lack of concern about racial discrimination. We should strive toward for the former, not the latter. I hope the Trump administration sees things that way as well.
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We confuse too much.
Let us consider Hegseth's actual order to the DoD:
"Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department's warfighting mission. Efforts to divide the force – to put one group ahead of another – erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution.
Going forward, DoD Components and Military Departments will not use official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months, including National African American/Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month. Service members and civilians remain permitted to attend these events in an unofficial capacity outside of duty hours.
Installations, units, and offices are encouraged to celebrate the valor and success of military heroes of all races, genders, and backgrounds as we restore our warrior culture and ethos. We are proud of our warriors and their history, but we will focus on the character of their service instead of their immutable characteristics."
Does this sound racist to anyone? Does it even sound indifferent to the realities of ethnic/cultural history?
Rather it simply states that DoD resources (funds or labor) would not be used to host ethnic/cultural celebrations. Is this even newsworthy?
So why does the DoD draw that resource allocation line? Because, as stated, what the Department's warfighting mission requires is 'force unity': the understanding and deep commitment by all members of the DoD to the fundamental understanding that an American warrior is that and only that. Everything else, every other demographic or cultural identifier that any individual or group of individuals may carry is and must be...a far distant second to the shared identity of American Warrior.
Would any of us disagree?
We say we endorse 'color blindness', but we are concerned that 'color blindness' might lead to indifference. We are concerned that programs intended to encourage 'blindness' might instead encourage indifference. But what, really, is the difference? If I am 'blind' to a thing -- whatever it may be -- am I not essentially indifferent to that thing. Conversely, if I am NOT indifferent to something, like, for instance, my own weight, then I cannot be blind to the numbers which flash upon the scale when I stand there.
Glenn speaks of his concern that ‘blindness’ / ‘indifference’, may lead to a lack of concern for the problems experienced by communities. But one is not logically connected to the other. If we learn that ‘Centerville’ contains a population which is 40% poor...70% obese....50% unemployed... 60% uneducated...and has an average life span 15 years below the national average...with a quarter of the population in jail...would anyone deny that Centerville is a community that needs serious help? Does it matter what color the residents are? Or what religion they practice? Or whether they all share a certain ethnicity or cultural preference for baked potatoes or Beyonce?
Of course not.
As for 'Back History Month' or MLK Day -- no one, as far as I know, is talking about cancelling such things, any more than anyone is advocating cancelling 'George Washington Carver Day' (Jan. 5th)....or removing February as our National Bird Feeding Month. But we should also consider that there are approximately 140 days, weeks, and months which have been officially recognized by Presidential Proclamation....and an additional 100 (with overlap) 'Observances' months....and probably thousands of ‘National Days’ (today, for instance, is National Cuddle Up Day). Why would we want the Federal Government to worry about any of these other than the 11 designated as National Federal Holidays?
How is any of this a bridge too far?
So no, let us celebrate what we hope is the death of DIE and move on.
And the best way to move on is a firm and unwavering effort to focus our best & brightest upon our darkest and most daunting national problems. No more; no less.
Glenn, I would love to hear you and John discuss Christopher Caldwell's book The Age of Entitlement, which argues that the 1960s revolution in the role of the federal government put a new layer of values and rules on top of the Constitution, and that those values are incompatible with the classical liberal concept of liberty and a free society. I don't know where I stand, and I'm not ready to advocate rolling back the Great Society and Civil Rights Act, but he makes some very compelling points that left me thinking that we need to do something to reconcile the "old Constitution" and the "new Constitution".