The decades-old term is about egalitarianism – but conservatives have turned it into a three-letter profanity. Baltimore’s leaders were the latest target
After the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month, it fell to Baltimore’s mayor, Brandon Scott, to explain the disaster and outline the next steps. But as online clips of the 39-year-old Democrat in his city of Baltimore varsity jacket began circulating, the conversation around the bridge collapse shifted from Scott’s emergency management strategy to his skin color. “This is Baltimore’s DEI mayor,” read one viral X post panning Scott, who is Black. “It’s going to get so, so much worse. Prepare accordingly.”
Before long the Maryland governor, Wes Moore, and port commissioner, Karenthia Barber, were also attacked as DEI agents and blamed for what maritime authorities have repeatedly described as a shipping accident. “This is what happens when you have Governors who prioritize diversity over the wellbeing and security of citizens,” wrote Phil Lyman, a Utah Republican gubernatorial candidate. Ever since, DEI has not only become a trending word but a near-taboo three-letter profanity. “The far right has really taken these ideas to an extreme and are not really worried about seeming racist,” says Natasha Warikoo, a sociologist at Tufts University and researcher of racial and ethnic inequality in education. “They are loud and proud of their views.”
