What is "diversity"? Everyday, I read about companies and schools bragging about the "diversity" of their employees and students, but this "diversity" is usually based on only a few superficial characteristics.
After a recent interview by a reporter from National Public Radio, I received the following email: "NPR is trying to do a better job reflecting America. When you have a sec, could you send me the following:
- preferred pronouns
- race/ethnicity
- gender
- age range
- residence"
Asking about "preferred pronouns" is a meaningless exercise in whether I have mastered the basic concepts of grammar and biology. Instead of asking about my biological sex, which can only be either male or female, NPR uses "gender", which has no biological meaning or clear-cut definition. I found this email comically funny, because the woke elites of NPR really believe that they can reflect America simply by checking selected boxes.
Does this list of five attributes constitute "reflecting America"? Nothing on the list reflects diversity of thought or beliefs. True diversity is not an echo chamber. True diversity does not pidgeon-hole people based on skin color.
Many businesses and academia have suppressed free speech and the exchange of ideas by canceling employees who dare to challenge current conventional ideology. For example, NPR has stated that every report they do on the weather must include the phrase "because of human-caused climate change". In another example, over the last two years, many scientists, such as the signers of the Great Barrington Declaration, were canceled just because they had the temerity to express ideas, analyses, and opinions that challenged the Covid shutdown.
Yes, I do hope that our taxpayer-funded radio network will do a better job of reflecting America. My suggestion is that the NPR reporters only report verifiable facts and stop spoon-feeding liberal dogma disguised as news.
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Anne Schlafly Cori is the daughter of Phyllis Schlafly and Chairman of Eagle Forum