Americans Don’t Like DEI

Woke capitalism is one of the strange phenomena of our era. I understand why government agencies might go in for DEI (Didn’t Earn It), since government at all levels is mostly in the hands of liberals and government employees, by their nature, are inclined to social engineering. But why corporations should sign up en masse for this left-wing nonsense is beyond me.

It is beyond most Americans, too. Rasmussen asked more than 1,200 Americans whether they are familiar with DEI and whether they think it has a positive or negative impact on companies. The linked article’s text is a little garbled, but this is what the pollster found:

Sixty-four percent (64%) of those surveyed are familiar with DEI….

So quite a few people, around a third, said they were not “familiar…with diversity, equity and inclusion policies, usually abbreviated as DEI.” Of those who are aware of DEI, a plurality think it has a harmful effect:

[J]ust 25% of American Adults think diversity, equity, and inclusion programs make companies better…while 34% think DEI is making companies worse. Twenty-five percent (25% say) DEI programs don’t make much difference and 16% are not sure.

Those who say they are very familiar with DEI are most negative toward it, perhaps because of personal experience:

Among Americans who are Very Familiar with DEI, 51% say such policies are making companies worse.

Rasmussen asked separately whether respondents think DEI programs make companies’ products or services, in the form of entertainment, better or worse. The results were similar:

37% of Americans believe diversity, equity and inclusion programs are making products and entertainment worse, while 22% think DEI is making them better.

This breakdown is particularly interesting:

Twenty-four percent (24%) of whites, 32% of blacks and 25% of other minorities think diversity, equity and inclusion programs are making companies better, while 34% of whites, 24% of blacks and 39% of other minorities say DEI is making companies worse.

This is one of several surveys I have seen recently that show a gulf opening between blacks and the much larger category of other minorities (basically, Hispanics and Asians). Here, as in a number of other recent surveys, “other minorities” express attitudes that are to the right of whites. I think we are seeing a seismic shift in those demographics.

The mystery remains: why do companies tie themselves up in knots pursuing pointless (at best) DEI goals, when the whole enterprise is unpopular, and customers are likely to think they are making their companies worse, not better?

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