@Buffy I'm really asking.

@Taw That sounds very close to "treating everyone equally," which is frowned upon by the Berkeley rubric.

Acceptable to whom? For what?

@JonCuster Let's say, acceptable to a typical USA university, and for the purpose of acquiring a teaching position and then teaching.

Wouldn't your proposed policy be barred by Title IX and Title VI?

If you are in California, read the text of Proposition 209 (it is a constitutional amendment approved by CA voters in 1996 prohibiting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in several areas, including education).

You might find it interesting to read the Academic Freedom Alliance's statement about this topic - "AFA Calls for An End to Required Diversity Statements" academicfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/…

Here is Kendi speaking for himself: penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/06/…

@Buffy Here's another quote of Kendi from that essay: "An antiracist idea is any idea that suggests the racial groups are equals in all their apparent differences—that there is nothing right or wrong with any racial group." Maybe he's actually not so far away philosophically from Enlightenment liberals...

Suggestion: Whenever you say something like "has become increasingly central to higher education in the United States", make sure that that is actually true. Is DEI really central? I don't think so.

@WolfgangBangerth Sorry for my choice of vague adjectives, but note that it's modified by "increasingly." If you like, replace it with "important".

Never ever touch grades.

@Buffy "Here is Kendi speaking for himself: penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/06/…" "RACIST: One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea." Hello, this is the Department of Redundancy Department calling. We're told that you're recursively defining a word by using it in its own definition?

@nick012000 That's actually a definition of the noun "racist" using the adjective "racist" (which in turn can perhaps be defined using the noun "racism").

The best advice I've heard regarding DEI statements is not to think too hard about it. Don't try anything too creative, write some fluff peppered with the right keywords, and add some personal experience of different races/ethnicities if you can (as a mathematician I'm sure you've taught or worked with different ethnicities to yourself). Some more social justice focused departments might be more interested in your DEI statement, but for many it's a box ticking exercise and probably won't be given more than a cursory glance.

"The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination." Wouldn't this guarantee the need for future discrimination to remedy the present discrimination?

@GlenYates Yes, its circular and self-defeating. Its pretty much racism with extra steps.

When you asked your institution's DEI about your need for understanding, your struggle, and about your proposal here, what did they tell you?

@do-the-thing-please I wouldn’t dare pose this question for fear of professional harm.

Surely a conversation starter such as "I'd like a better understanding of DEI and how it applies to me as an instructor, so I can give the best possible experience to students of all backgrounds." would do no harm, right?

@do-the-thing-please but if I raise specific questions like this it could be dangerous

Why would you do that then? And if you can't do that, surely you can inch toward an answer by learning more about DEI generally. I assume you have a good-faith reason for asking this question here, because if you didn't you wouldn't be so interested in finding a path forward, correct?

@do-the-thing-please What I meant is that I perceive a climate in which raising challenging questions on this topic could get one flagged as a problematic person. Thus I raised the question here anonymously because I really want to know, is it not a consequence of the theory that this kind of affirmative grade inflation might be morally obligatory? Or if inflated grades are inherently worthless, as some have argued, then perhaps some other kind of affirmative action in the classroom….

would be required like having special office hours only for students of color and non-males.

It seems that everyone’s intuitions pushes them to say Kendi is not being literal, of course you should just make the best effort to give equal opportunity and bring people to a level field on which they can be assess objectively. But it seems that DEI theories actually call for steps far beyond that, to give some kind of real privileges to those who have been disadvantaged in some way.

Ah I see what you mean now. Thank you for the more detailed explanation of your position. I hope your workplace isn't quite so hostile as to keep tabs on who might be a "problematic person".

I think approaching DEI with a genuine desire for learning can be a good path forward. Surely your institution's DEI offers workshops or other training opportunities? You don't have to say anything. Attend with the goal of listening. You aren't committed yet. Go with an open ear and the goal of finding a way forward.

I wish you the best, it's a tough topic to navigate, to be sure.