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Striking at humanity

15 8
07.09.2025

Readers will recall the tragedy that took place in the USA nine days after Donald Trump assumed office of the President for the second term. On 29 January of this year, a passenger jet and a military helicopter collided and plunged into the Potomac river near Washington D.C. leaving all 67 passengers and crew dead. The fallout of this deadly incident has been even more deadly. The President of the United States who is opposed to the principles and policies of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), immediately initiated a crusade against DEI.

During a White House briefing, Trump suggested that DEI initiatives at the Federal Aviation Administration (of the United States) might have played a role in the crash. Without any supporting evidence. When a reporter asked Trump how he could conclude that diversity had something to do with the crash, he said “It just could have been.” “Because I have common sense, OK, and, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.” Shortly thereafter he stated to the World Economic Forum “My administration has taken action to abolish all discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense – and these are policies that were absolute nonsense – throughout the government and the private sector.”

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Readers will also remember another tragic event that took place about five years ago, on 25 May 2020. An African American, George Floyd, was accused by a cashier of a food store in Minneapolis of using a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill to pay for his purchase. The police were called. They handcuffed him. They pushed him to the ground. A white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes that killed Floyd. A passer-by filmed the entire episode and uploaded the video on Facebook. The video quickly went viral. Mass protests began in Minneapolis and spread like wildfire throughout the United States.

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Supporters of the international activist movement “Black Lives Matter” held nationwide demonstrations against police brutalities and racial injustice. There was a nationwide reckoning of racial justice and these protests resulted in a dramatic diversity, equity and inclusion push globally. Harvard University created a university-wide Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer in August 2020, for example. Diversity........

© The Statesman