D-E-I.
Diversity. Equity. Inclusion.
Three simple words it would seem everyone could understand and make a part of their own lives. Simple. Easy to acknowledge. Words of acceptance. Words of value.
Yet, not everyone agrees. It's difficult to understand why. But, there are folks who just can't accept teaching those values in schools. They fear something they alone can see that makes them rebel at their mention.
Two examples of how this "concept" is being dealt with. Across the country, last weekend, there were marches and demonstrations with thousands of people in support of D-E-I. Flags, signs, banners, loudspeakers broadcasting encouraging words to the assembled crowds.
In New York, several public school districts have said "Nyet." They've shipped the D-E-I materials back where they came from with accompanying notes saying "Thanks, but NO thanks."
Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Seems simple enough.
Accepting and living by those words isn't like having to carry a cross or something. It doesn't make the user weird or socially unacceptable. You don't get warts or skin blemishes. Living by them is not an unpleasant duty of sort.
It should be easy to believe in those three words and try to live with them as principles. It's not hard to do. You don't have to work at it.
But, the folks protesting "diversity, equity and inclusion" - they DO have to "work at it." They've got to get up a full head of steam to pick up a sign, lace up their boots and get out their crayons to make those aforementioned signs.
A year or two from now, it's likely we won't be hearing much about "diversity, equity and inclusion." When responsible people get worked up enough to take to the streets - thousands and thousands of them - the naysayers aren't left with much to work with. The die's been cast.
But, the spirit lives. In the West Ada School District in Meridian, Idaho, a couple of weeks ago, a teacher put up a togetherness poster showing several raised hands and arms with palms out, hearts in the center. The arms and hands were of different skin colors. Inclusion. Diversity.
Before the noon lunch bell, an administer from the front office ordered the sign down. And it was taken down. But, several mornings later, kids and adults showing up for classes found a replica of those signs done in chalk art on a couple of sidewalks. They were erased before lunch. But, the kids had made their point. They supported "diversity, equity and inclusion." And they wanted those administrators to know it. "Diversity, equity and inclusion" was in their hearts.
There are those that want to stamp out those three words. Trump's education department - what's left of it - told Harvard and some other Ivy League schools to get "diversity, equity and inclusion" out of their curricula. Fast! And, when considering the flow of those hundreds of millions or federal tax dollars, the words quickly disappeared.
Maybe they disappeared from the class room and the sidewalks. But, the strong feelings in the hearts of those who supported all that artwork wasn't erased. They weren't compromised. Maybe the pictures went away. But, the spirit still lives.
Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Even without signs, those are powerful words.