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DEI is not DUI
Bert “Jefferson” Ellis Tells DEI Believers to Shut the Hell Up Boy
Thomas Jefferson is a hero to many Virginians who are white males, and understandably so. For those like Bert Ellis, a rich white male graduate of the University of Virginia started the Jefferson Council out of his admiration for what he sees as Jefferson’s key traits. Ellis is now trying to shut down the DEI program while promoting the new favorite attack word of the not far right, diversity, and is only reflecting the good he sees in Jefferson.
His admiration for Jefferson is perfectly comprehensible and they share many of the same qualities: both of them successful, super-wealthy and white males. Both were born to a ruling class of white men, got the best education money could buy due to that inherited privilege, and both practiced a type of beliefs fundamentally at odds with the self-evident inalienable rights of man.
Oh yeah, and both cheated to get ahead and become leaders.
That may sound offensive, but beliefs, though the first step in making profound changes for the better, are not the whole story and become hollow if not practiced. There are key differences, however, despite the obvious similarities and I should point out — especially about that cheating part. In this way, historical observation is like a Rorschach test: you can see the attributes you like and…