As firefighters continue to battle devastating wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area, several prominent conservatives have focused their energy on publicly criticizing the Los Angeles Fire Department’s efforts to be more inclusive and equitable.
Conservatives have long weaponized the term DEI — which refers to practices that value diversity, equity and inclusion — as a dog whistle to suggest that members of marginalized groups don’t actually earn their achievements.
“The whole conversation around DEI is a tired discourse used to discredit the abilities of historically marginalized communities who have been systemically left out of certain fields,” LaGarrett King, professor of social studies education in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo, told HuffPost.
Such has been the case with the catastrophic wildfires, which have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of structures. Many right-wing commenters have suggested this weekthat the firefighter responsemight have been more effective had the LAFD not announced its priorities in recent years to foster a safe, diverse and inclusive workplace in a historically white and male department that had been plagued by allegationsof racism, sexism and harassment.
On Wednesday, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, responded to a post on the platform that shared a 2021 racial equity plan from the LAFD, writing: “They prioritized DEI over saving lives and homes.”
While speaking about the wildfires on her SiriusXM show earlier this week, former Fox News personality Megyn Kelly criticized Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley for making diversity “at least among the top priorities for the department.”
And during a recent panel discussion on CNN’s “NewsNight With Abby Phillip,” conservative pundit Scott Jennings expressed frustration with the LAFD’s response to the disaster, saying a “main interest in the fire department lately has been in DEI programming and budget cuts.”
“We have DEI, we have budget cuts and yet I’m wondering now, if your house was burning down, how much do you care what color the firefighters are?” he said earlier in the segment.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who was on the panel, shut Jennings down. “What diversity, equity and inclusion has always been about is saying, ’You know what, open this up. Don’t just look at the white men. Open it up and recognize that other people can be qualified.”
King, who is the director of the Center for K-12 Black History and Racial Literacy Education at the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo, called the conservative talking points “disappointing.”
“This is not a time for political maneuvers when real people are experiencing such tragedy,” he said.
Alvin B. Tillery Jr., a professor of political science and African American studies at Northwestern University, told HuffPost that commentators like Jennings and Kelly are seeking to “exploit the fact that this tragedy is happening under the leadership of a woman fire chief.”
He said it’s a “real shame” Jennings continues to have a platform on TV to share such “outrageous statements.”
Social media platforms are also rife with people making erroneous and offensive claims about Crowley’s qualifications, leveling attacks that she was a “DEI hire.”
The fire chief, who in 2022 became the first woman and first LGBTQ+ person to lead the department, has been with LAFD for more than 20 years. She has been promoted through the ranks, from firefighter, to paramedic, to engineer, to fire inspector and on up to chief deputy before becoming the fire chief, the department’s website states.
Crowley had released a LAFD strategic plan for 2023 to 2026 in which she designated the department’s top goal as delivering “exceptional public safety and emergency services.” The third priority on the list of seven “key goals” was a commitment to embracing diversity, equity and inclusion. The LAFD launched it’s first-ever Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Bureau in 2022.
When asked during an interview with CBS Evening News this week to respond to accusations that the fire department prioritized diversity over its commitment to fight fires the best way it can, Crowley responded that is “absolutely not” true.
She noted that the department’s priority, emphasized in the strategic plan, has been to ensure the “LAFD has the capability to respond to our emergency calls.”
“Again, my No. 1 priority is making sure that we can take care of the community that we took an oath to take care of, and with that is our ability to respond to emergency,” she said.
There has been no evidence to suggest a connection between the spread of the fires and the LAFD’s efforts to be more inclusive.
Moreover, the hateful rhetoric surrounding the department’s efforts to be inclusive reveals “despicable” politics of “white supremacy,” said Tillery, who directs the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern.
“What we know about the LA fire department is that they are absolutely doing their best to contain this crisis, and that’s what matters now,” Tillery said. “We also know that Chief Crowley is fully qualified for her position by every metric that is available.”
He said that Crowley also has a “fundamental right to be proud that she is the first woman and LGBTQ+ chief in the department’s history.”
“The rightwing echo chamber just wants to tear down any policy that they believe diminishes the standing of white people in American culture,” he said, later adding that a core part of Crowley’s job is to ensure the fire department, which has been sued for racial and gender discrimination, recruits “talent from every corner of the city.”
King said that DEI criticisms are, overall, “dishonest,” since the arguments commonly surround the idea of meritocracy — which refers to a system or society in which people get rewarded or chosen for positions based on merit.
“The United States labor history has never practiced pure meritocracy as some would like you to believe,” he said. “The labor system largely has been predicated on your personal connections and who you know.”
He said that those practices have historically left out qualified people of color and other marginalized groups who may lack “necessary connections” to get certain jobs.
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King emphasized that DEI initiatives are meant to “level the playing field because it encourages employers to look in different places they normally would have not looked.”
“In essence, DEI initiatives actually strengthen the job market because a larger net is placed,” he said.
In reality, the overarching focus now has been to help the people of the LA region deal with devastating loss. Here are a few ways to do that no matter where you live.