The term DEI seems rather ungainly to me, but the concept behind it is of course a noble one. Same for "politically correct" and "woke". I mean, who'd want to be incorrect, and asleep in today's world?
Me, I'm out-and-out woke, and proud of it. Yes, I think language is important, and yes, I try to keep up with the descriptions people want for themselves. And yes, sensitivity and empathy are good things.
There are three questions we have to ask ourselves, when the press bang on about schools cancelling Christmas, or about the town council in Dogspissville who spent eighteen hours debating whether to rename manholes as personholes....
1) Did it actually happen at all? These stories are often pure fabrications.
2) If they did happen (shit does on occasions), then do they represent the majority thinking: i.e. does everyone who agrees to call African Americans "African Americans" or "people of colour" or whatever description that community decides is right really want to abolish Christmas? Really?
3) Most importantly of all, whose interests are served by ridiculing "woke"? Look deep enough and you'll usually find a rich white man somewhere in the murk.
The same happened with the phrase "health and safety". Years ago I translated a piece about people working on dangerous sites and how their safety helmets needed changing once a year. Then it hit me: looking after your workers costs money. Wouldn't it be far easier to undermine and ridicule them, by creating a culture in which morons repeat like automatons "It's 'ealth and safety gone maaaaaad" (interesting, incidentally, how the exact same "gone mad" trope was used about PC).
And how to create that trope? Simple. Put a few stories on the front page about the school trip to London cancelled because of a puddle in Aberdeen, or the imaginary parent who sued an imaginary school because a peanut was found within 100km of the premises, and you'll soon whip up a posse of angry readers. And that is precisely what Chomsky meant by manufacturing consent.
I for one am delighted by and proud of our diverse global team at ProZ Pro Bono, chosen because of their sheer bloody talent. Yes we are diverse, equitable and inclusive, but that's because we believe deeply in those things, not because we're at the mercy of the latest acronym.
If Florida is the state where woke goes to die, then I want Pro Bono to be the place where it comes to thrive.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) sounds really good, but it is better to see it in the real world, and Proz Pro Bono has reached that and beyond. It has joined many countries, cultures, languages, and people in only one place for the same reason: Helping people in need to convey their messages from one language to another.