The Great DEI Boogeyman: Brought to You by Rich White Men, Fearmongers Inc.
Once upon a time, the Republican Party prided itself on a certain principle: small government. The mantra was simple—keep the government out of your wallet, your boardroom, and your bedroom. But apparently, those golden days have been replaced by a new platform: micromanage businesses, invent imaginary threats, and regulate private companies like a nosy HOA president with too much time on their hands.
The latest “scandal” that has state officials clutching their pearls? Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—three words that apparently strike more fear into rich white men than a ghost story at summer camp. DEI has now been inflated into the boogeyman of the decade. Forget real problems like inflation, healthcare, or crumbling infrastructure—oh no, this is what keeps the governor awake at night: the possibility that a company might dare to hire a qualified woman, a Black executive, or—heaven forbid—promote someone who didn’t golf at the same country club.
Let’s be clear: if a company is operating legally, paying taxes, and following labor laws, the state has no business barging in to dictate how that company should manage its workforce, train its staff, or set its values. None. Zip. Nada. The role of government is not to act as the business police force because a few wealthy donors dislike seeing people who don’t look like them in leadership positions.
This sudden obsession with DEI is not about fairness, it’s not about protecting workers, and it’s sure as hell not about freedom. It’s about fear. Rich, powerful men afraid of losing even the smallest sliver of privilege. They dress it up as “protecting tradition” or “fighting woke culture,” but at its core, it’s the same tired trick: blame the marginalized, demonize inclusion, and whip up outrage to distract voters from the fact that real issues are being ignored.
And the hypocrisy? Off the charts. These are the same people who rail against government regulation, who chant “less government interference” every election cycle, who wave their small-government flags like parade batons. Yet now, they want the government to reach its sticky fingers into boardrooms and tell private companies how they can’t train their employees, who they can’t promote, and what values they can’t hold. That’s not small government—that’s authoritarian micromanagement dressed in a red tie.
Businesses thrive on innovation, talent, and diversity. The market rewards creativity, collaboration, and forward-thinking. If DEI initiatives help a company attract better talent, increase profits, and reflect the real makeup of America—what exactly is the problem? Oh right: the problem is that it makes some of these state leaders uncomfortable. And what’s their solution? Not to adapt, not to evolve, but to punish. To control. To shame.
So here’s my message to our state government: shame on you. Shame on you for manufacturing fear where none exists. Shame on you for turning inclusion into a dirty word. Shame on you for abandoning the very principles your party once claimed to stand for.
We see through it. We know who benefits when inclusion is attacked and fear is stoked. Spoiler alert: it isn’t the everyday citizen, and it certainly isn’t the marginalized voices you’re trying to silence. It’s the same handful of rich white men, clinging to their power like a toddler clutching a security blanket.
The rest of us? We’re moving forward. With or without your permission!
Julie Bolejack, MBA
