Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) wants to be clear that when people like DEI advocates talk about diversity, they are “talking about race.” Grothman makes this clear in his monologue below, to set straight people who might believe that diversity was an issue about a person’s height or musical skills.
“When they talk about diversity,” Grothman says, “they aren’t talking about who is musically inclined or who is tall or who came from North Dakota, they’re talking about race…DEI is a Marxist ideology. They want to destroy America.”
Grothman’s position on DEI initiatives has many backers, with even some of those in favor of its ultimate goal, like conservative critic David French, questioning the constitutionality of the practice as it is currently implemented. But unlike these objectors who question the methods by which the nation might achieve greater representation for its minority citizens, Grothman questions the desirability of the result itself, not just the way to achieve it.
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI), chair of a House Oversight subcommittee, says diversity, such as "having an ancestor born in Thailand or something," is irrelevant.
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) January 11, 2024
"DEI is a Marxist ideology … They want to destroy America."
He ends the hearing using the wrong side of the gavel. pic.twitter.com/sSYnlkUo8P
Speaking in a meeting of Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs of the House Oversight Committee, Grothman says: “This diversity thing…I suppose in some ways diversity is OK, but in other ways I don’t see what it has to do with anything.”
Grothman gives an example of two equally qualified candidates for the Air Force Academy, with matching credentials including an adeptness at saxophone, who “lived on the same block.” Then Grothman disinguishes the two imaginary candidates by giving one of them a “Hispanic grandfather” — and wonders why that candidate would be perceived, according to how he characterizes DEI policy, as a better candidate.
Grothman does not, in his calculation, consider the likelihood (or unlikelihood) of the presumably white candidate (whose ancestry the Congressman doesn’t note) and the Hispanic candidate actually growing up on the same block, an understanding of which DEI advocates say is a key element in the understanding of DEI’s intentions.
“I wish they would call out people on what exactly they mean by diversity,” Grothman says. “Because I have an ancestor born in Thailand or something that makes me a better sergeant, it’s just absurd. But that’s the ridiculous ideology that’s taken over America.”
Grothman has made President Biden’s judicial appointments an example of what he sees as reverse discrimination, saying of Biden’s bench nominations in his first two years: “I was expecting maybe 25 or 30 were white guys. Five of the 97 judges were white guys. Of those, two were gay. So, almost impossible for a white guy who’s not gay, apparently, to get appointed here.”
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