Diversity Makes America Great
Our guest author is Stanley Litow, a professor at Columbia University; author of Breaking Barriers: How P-TECH Schools Create a Pathway From High School to College to Career and The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to Reward; a columnist at Barron's; a Trustee at the State University of New York (SUNY); and a member of the Shanker Institute Board of Directors.
As someone who spent my career in government, business and education, I have become increasingly alarmed at the constant attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
Diversity finally became a U.S. priority over half a century ago, thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders in the Civil Rights movement when ending race discrimination was made a high U.S. priority. But interest and concern peaked again, after George Floyd's murder, when every sector of the economy pledged to address the critical disadvantages faced by people of color. Floyd's death was at the hands of the police, but his death exposed a problem that was much larger. While some improvements had been made, people of color were clearly under steep structural challenges, far beyond policing. The problem was apparent, in schools, colleges, and all sectors of the economy. In many high schools, data showed screened admission criteria to college prep classes were widespread, depriving many students of color fair access to school programs, like Advanced Placement courses. Data also showed colleges and universities used admissions screening to access their most competitive programs. Data made clear that faculty at all levels were under-represented so far too frequently students of color could not experience teachers or faculty of color, let alone in educational leadership.
This lack of representation is not just found in schools. In the workplace, data showed severe racial gaps from Boards of Directors, and the C Suite all the way through to entry level jobs. This was the case, in IT, health care, finance, retail, manufacturing and entertainment. Data doesn’t lie. Historical and current data on income disparity based on race as well as gender is clear. And barriers to diversity extend to supply chains, with women and minority owned businesses making up at an insignificant percent of all supply chain spending.
Disparities in our communities also should not be ignored. According to the independent Economic Policy Institute in 20 years, while people of color will represent a majority of the U.S. population, Black and Brown people are five times more likely to be incarcerated than white people. Rates of college completion are significantly lower for people of color who also earn lower wages when compared to white people with similar educational attainment. Black and Brown women are paid 24% to 32% lower than white men for similar work. Child poverty is also much higher for people of color. Data doesn't lie. And while over the last 50 plus years, some progress has been made, and must be acknowledged, the problem, still exists.
And, there is clear evidence, like this article in Forbes, 8 Reasons Why Diversity and Inclusion Are Essential to Business Success, that a focus on diversity in education and the workplace beyond being equitable and fair, has real bottom line benefits. Under-representation of students of color in high quality areas like STEM deprives students’ REAL opportunity, but it also hurts employers’ ability to hire people with in- demand skills, denying government the revenues it needs via tax on higher wages. Students denied access to faculty that "look like them" leads to lower completion rates that effects both wages and revenues. Facts don't lie. Lack of diversity impedes economic growth, and all Americans will see the impact at the kitchen table.
The 2025 changes at the Federal level moved diversity, equity, and inclusion from an acceptable and achievable goal to anathema. Recent Trump administration action has made diversity, equity, and inclusion not just wrong, but illegal. In one horrific example, schools that focus on diversity are being threatened with the total loss of federal education funding. You can't teach about it in schools or colleges. You can't incorporate it into workplace hiring or promotion. Those who do are subject to punitive legal action and economic consequences. Diversity has become the target of blame for virtually everything. According to some, diversity causes war, and diversity strains the economy. When a plane and helicopter crash, despite absolutely no evidence, it is diversity that caused disaster and death.
America is and has always been diverse. Women and people of color, people with physical and other handicaps, and gender differences, help make America great. This doesn't denigrate or criticize others. We all make America great. Along with diversity, equity has always been a core goal. We value fairness in how citizens are treated. Being equitable is being fair. All citizens get one vote. Equity means people are treated fairly financially. Wage disparity based on race, gender or religion is totally unacceptable. And while most difficult, inclusion is a core element of society as well. Inclusion means we embrace differences. Were all diversity efforts in education or industry executed perfectly? Of course not, and they can and should be improved, but the effort to support diversity can't just stop. It must continue. We may not get there in the short term but making progress for everyone is what made America a vibrant democracy, and that is what greatness is about.