Imagine a young black man in his late 20s who maybe made some bad decisions early on but matured and began to appreciate personal responsibility. He’s doing okay, learned some skills, has a pretty decent job where he’s earned respect, and he has finally been able to save some money, say $10,000. He wants to put it somewhere without risk, so he establishes a savings account a Bank of America. He’s a culturally sensitive person and checked out BoA’s diversity statement:
Being a diverse and inclusive workplace: At Bank of America, we value all our differences – in background, experience and viewpoints, including socioeconomic status, race, national origin, religion, age, gender, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disabilities and veteran status. AND...Working together to advance racial equality and economic opportunity: We firmly believe all employees should be treated with respect, live free of discrimination and be able to bring their whole selves to work. This is core to who we are as a company and how we drive responsible growth. We are committed to addressing inequality through a company-wide commitment to advancing economic opportunity across diverse communities.
What our young man didn’t consider was the interest rate BoA offers: 0.01%. So at the end of the year he will have earned a whole $1 on his investment. He never really thought about the overall economic environment which has been characterized by significant increases in interest rates, and that a number of banks have responded by increasing the rates they offer, say 4.25%; at the end of a year he would have earned $425 on his savings instead of $1. But that’s okay, because BoA has diversity, equity, and inclusion statements.
BoA sends him a letter "congratulating" him because he’s been “pre-approved” for a credit card with 1.5% cash back and a sweet introductory offer. Sounds pretty good. So he starts using the card like many Americans, charging things he doesn’t really need, but what the heck, he pays more than the minimum payment and the 20% plus interest doesn’t seem all that much. But then his fridge needs to be replaced and he has unexpected car problems, so what seemed like a few dollars here and there now adds up to $100s, and he can barely make the minimum payment...if he’s lucky. But that’s okay because he’s got that $1 interest a year from his BoA savings account to help cover the costs. How generous of the great social justice elite at BoA, with all their diversity, equity, and inclusion statements!
The CEO of BoA is a lily white guy named Brian Moynihan. Good ole Brian makes $32 million a year and has a net worth of probably around $100 million depending on the source; that law degree from Notre Dame certainly paid off. He currently lives in Wellesly, MA and frequently commutes between Boston and Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, NC using Bank of America's private jets (wikipedia). Were there a poster-boy for white privilege it could be Brian Moynihan, who lives a life of excess and greed: his company holds almost $2 trillion on deposit while paying essentially $0 in interest to regular people but typically charging the same people over 20% in credit card interest. Let’s see, 0.01% interest on $10,000 in savings gives you $1 a year; 20% on a $10,000 credit card balance means you pay him $2,000 in year in interest.
While some people might politely call Moynihan’s business practices usurious, others might reasonably call them immoral. But that’s okay, because BoA has diversity, equity, and inclusion statements. Heck, Moynihan even serves as chair of the company’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Here is what We REALLY need to understand: diversity, equity, and inclusion is OF, BY, and FOR elite white people who love their money, status, influence, power and privilege as much as life itself, and will do anything to preserve and defend it. It is a cynical gimmick with the purpose of justifying the greed of the elite class at the expense of the supposed beneficiaries and non-elite.
During the summer of George Floyd (yes, he was no saint but was needlessly killed by a brutal cop), I received a mass email from the CEO of my 0.01% interest bank, USAA. He, of course, is a wealthy and privileged white guy; nevertheless he went on and on about how horribly racist we are but we’re too stupid to realize it. He equated courage with “having conversations about race,” and overall implied he was the anointed one to whom we should bow down. His arrogance was impressive but not unique: it must be a rush to feel you are so superior to others that you have the right to tell them how defective they are, and what they need to think and how they should act. I know very few people who fail to treat others with dignity and respect regardless of skin color, etc, and what a wonderful thing that is. I feel sorry for the the truly good people are cowed into questioning their decency by cultural bullies. This compares to the virtue signaling phonies who gain approbation by “admitting” they are “racist,” like a televangelist who, for vanity and money, pretends to humble himself by confessing, “I too am a sinner!”
Anyway, on a whim I looked up “woke” corporations and organizations, i.e. the ones who cherish (or rather pretend to) diversity, equity, and inclusion, and decided to take a peak at their CEOs, presidents, commissioners, etc and encountered lots of white faces. I can’t claim I adhered to any scientific method, but of the 50+ people I researched, all but one was white. I think that is statistically significant. So...take a peak at the rest of the gallery of elite white people who wallow both in their white privilege and their make believe opposition to white privilege, in the form of DEI:
