A powerful myth has been carefully cultivated in our nation: The left wants to promote diversity. This canard has become so entrenched in American culture that it goes almost unchallenged.
Yes, the left talks a lot about diversity, especially in academia. On any college campus, you will be bombarded with talk of diversity. Academic vice presidents are often paid in excess of $200,000 a year to promote “diversity.” It’s tightly woven into the fabric of campus life. Anyone who doesn’t join in the diversity frenzy is considered a potential bigot who must be ostracized.
The left is obsessed with diversity but only when it comes to categories they care about: race, color, ethnicity, and the myriad LGBTQIA categories. But there can be no diversity without a diversity of ideas. Without political and ideological diversity the rest is just a house of cards. The left shows no interest in political or ideological diversity. Their strident emphasis on other forms of diversity exposes their hypocrisy. Conservatives, on the other hand, might care about equality of opportunity but they don't care about diversity, either. Unlike the left, however, at least they don't pretend to.
When was the last time you heard a college VP in charge of “diversity and inclusion” insist on getting more political diversity on campus? Have you ever heard a prominent Democrat in Congress insist that any college receiving federal funds be required to promote political and ideological diversity on campus?
It’s not just academia that is perpetrating this diversity lie: It has been meticulously woven tightly into the fabric of American culture. The media pushes it. Watch MSNBC or read The New York Times editorial page. Hollywood talks about it nonstop. Remember the #OscarsSoWhite controversy? The NFL has the “Rooney Rule” which requires that minority candidates be interviewed for coaching positions. It goes all the way up to the president of the United States who, when making his recent nomination for the Supreme Court, was hyper-focused on diversity of skin color and gender.
Without political and ideological diversity, the rest is virtually meaningless. You can’t claim to promote diversity but insist on only one set of political ideas. You can’t claim to value diversity then demand that students be given “safe spaces” to hide them from a diversity of ideas. You can’t claim to believe in diversity while at the same time promoting groupthink and living in an ideological bubble. MSNBC can’t claim to value diversity and then only book guests on their programs who share that network’s political outlook. To be fair, this also includes conservative outlets like Fox News which similarly show no tolerance for a diversity of ideas. Hollywood can’t claim to love diversity while simultaneously ostracizing any actor or producer who doesn’t share in their “woke” ideology. When it comes to politics the left wants dogma, not diversity.
It’s time to expose the diversity lie and demand that our nation embrace a diversity of ideas. That is indispensable to our nation’s civic health. It will lead to more robust debate on important issues of public policy and produce more informed and educated citizens. America needs her citizens to be critical thinkers, not just followers of the crowd. Promoting political and ideological diversity will strengthen our fragile democracy. It’s time to embrace real diversity — a diversity of ideas.