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3rd Rail Podcast-- Why all the smoke? Why all the shade?": Phillips Collab on whether DEI was DOA.
Phillips Collaborative • February 6, 2025
We are 3rd Rail! In our debut episode, host Milyna Phillips gets real with the Phillips Collaborative team, Jini Rae Sparkman and Lawrence Alexander. We dig into the current state of DEI and model how our family has difficult conversations. Join us as "we listen and definitely judge" the education and DEI landscape, civil discourse, and admissions.
President Trump has issued executive orders to eliminate federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, reflecting a broader trend of companies scaling back DEI initiatives. Even before these actions, demand for DEI consulting services had been declining, as many corporations retreated from diversity commitments made after 2020
In "The Guise of Civil Discourse and the Limits of Tolerance," Jini Rae Sparkman critiques the misuse of civil discourse as a facade for perpetuating racism and intolerance. She references Karl Popper's "paradox of tolerance," emphasizing that unbounded tolerance can lead to the erosion of tolerance itself if intolerant ideologies are not actively challenged.
Performative Inclusivity: Protecting White Comfort with Black Humanity critiques current Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices for prioritizing white comfort over genuine systemic change. The author argues that such performative actions fail to address oppression and systemic racism effectively, calling for DEI practitioners to adopt more active and collective approaches to drive meaningful progress.
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