Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim congressman and now the first and only attorney general of a Muslim state, self-proclaimed white man and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) champion Tim Wise, and Afro-Filipino Tennessee State Representative and member of the Tennessee Three Justin Jones provided a series of scathing but informative and educational quotes in defense of efforts to end DEI programs in the United States.
The three spoke during a panel discussion at NetsRoots Nations, the progressive movement’s annual conference July 11-13, 2024 in Baltimore, MD.
“They are trying to return our country to the state it was in before the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” declared Ellison, his state’s chief justice. He called the Supreme Court’s ruling in 303 Creative, which allowed Lori Smith to invoke free speech rights when she refused to build wedding websites for LGBTQ+ couples, “Jim Crow segregation for gays.” He predicted that by 2027, other lawsuits will claim that other inclusionary laws “violate a person’s right to free speech.”
DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) is the “new N-word,” Wise proclaimed, reminding the Baltimore audience that Republicans rejected the administration’s $1.2 trillion budget proposal in March, a provision that led to the closure of the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
The featured speaker also recalled how Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who has an afro hair, was called the DEI mayor in social media posts following the Francis Scot Bridge collapse. Scott told the Baltimore Banner, “Whether it’s DEI or clown. They really want to say the N-word. But they can’t do anything to me and say anything worse than the treatment of my ancestors. I’m proud of who I am and where I came from.”
Weeks later, Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas named Vice President Harris as the DEI candidate. Many people believe that DEI is “cruelly unfair to mediocre white men,” said pioneering tech startup entrepreneur Cheryl Contee in introducing the panel.
Jones, the youngest participant on set, had a lot to say. He recalled how a hostile colleague, Tennessee State Senator Jack Johnson, greeted him at the state Capitol: “I want you to know that you are worthless and you don’t belong here.” The Fisk University graduate says he’s glad Johnson came clean, which made him realize that “I’m not here to make friends.”
“They’re using our statehouses as laboratories. We were the first state to ban drag shows, the first to pass divisive birth control bans, to pass voter ID, the most restrictive form of voter ID, and the most restrictive anti-abortion law,” added Jones, who represents Nashville. “If you want to know what Project 2025 is, look at Tennessee 2024,” he said without hesitation.
“I’ve been white for a long time. I’ve been in this skin for 55 years,” Wise added, to the delight of the activist audience. He told convention attendees that you can be “white and still be as progressive as the day is long,” but that doesn’t mean you can be “white and know that race is the background noise of everything that’s happening in this country.”
He said white children should not feel guilty about knowing their true history when society tells them about whites who were on the right side of history, like the Reverend John Gregg Fee, founder of Berea College, who was defrocked by the Presbyterian Church for refusing to preach to slave owners. “You make it clear to the children that they have a choice. They can choose to cooperate and conform, or they can choose to resist.”
All three called for unity and reminded people that terms like the N-word, busing and tax cuts – which mean black people will suffer more – are just tools to maintain the current racial hierarchy. He concluded: “If they can make us look at each other with suspicion, they can maintain the power structures over all of us.”
Note: Jones, Wise, and panel moderator and critical race theory scholar Kimberle Crenshaw will also participate in the fifth annual CRT summer school, “Freedom Summer 2024: No U-Turn on Racial Justice,” which will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, and online.
Wayne A. Young
Gary native Wayne Young is the editor of Port of Harlem magazine. Founded by Young in 1995, the magazine is inclusive, diverse and pan-African. He is also president of the Port of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership, which funds and manages small cultural, educational and community projects in the West African country. He recently converted his parents’ house in Gary into a short-term rental apartment.
