The U.S. House of Representatives has dissolved its Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) amid ongoing efforts from Republican lawmakers to slash diversity programs across the nation.
ReNika Moore, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Racial Justice Program, told theGrio that this is “distressing.”
“This is another example of the extreme right prioritizing politics and exclusion over opportunity,” said Moore. “The House of Representatives should really live up to its purpose and represent everyone who calls the United States home.”
Jason Greene, president of the Congressional Black Associates, said that this was the “natural progression of things we’ve seen over the past few years.”
“We’ve seen far-right extremists attack the Black Lives Matter movement, critical race theory, and an attack on being ‘woke,’” said Greene. “This was just a natural progression of where things were going … so I’m not surprised that they are now attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).”
Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way, told theGrio that this move is “political, shortsighted and stupid.”
“It’s very useful for Congress to have an office whose function is to make sure that the staff of that body is as diverse as the nation itself,” said the former mayor of Ithaca, New York.
He added, “Making sure that all groups are represented in Congress is a way to [ensure] that good decisions are made for the entire country.”
According to its official website, ODI was created in March 2020 to create a workforce within the U.S. House of Representatives “reflective of the American people.”
Over the course of four years, the office provided five functions: candidate services, member services, research and data analytics, programming, and professional development. All were focused on ensuring the office met its goal of putting “the people in the…
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