Sara Haines clashed with Sunny Hostin over the effectiveness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs on this morning’s episode of The View.
With President Donald Trump signing executive orders to get rid of DEI programs, Hostin called the controversial move a “war on women” and other minority groups, noting that it’s a “counter” to Trump’s campaign promise that he will “protect Black jobs.”
“I think this is a really important issue especially because when we talk about DEI, we’re not talking about an office,” she said. “We’re talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion across all offices for all people so it’s more reflective of what America looks like. This will specifically harm women and it will specifically harm African Americans and Latinos.”
However, Haines questioned whether anyone actually benefited from DEI programs.
“One of the criticisms against DEI is that diversity, equity, and inclusion [are] all great in theory. But the DEI programs have not accomplished things,” Haines argued. “They’ve been a bureaucracy of money suck that have not gotten anywhere.”
When Hostin chimed in to disagree, Haines pointed to a report from the University of Michigan to back her claims.
“The Black Student Union said $85 million was spent [on a DEI program] and yet Black students’ experience on campus has hardly improved and enrollment has gone down,” she explained. “So that’s one example of saying it’s not just a criticism of diversity, it’s a criticism of the programs being effective.”
Hostin interjected, “The stats show that they’re very effective,” but Haines quickly countered, “That’s not what I’m reading.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, for her part, felt as thought the average working-class American was not concerned about whether their company had a DEI program.
“A lot of Americans generally agree that diversity makes things better. But I also think a lot of this country thinks, ‘I want the federal government to work,’” she said. “I don’t know that every agency needs 100 or dozens of employees focused on diversity if you can’t get your VA benefits, if you feel like our schools are failing and falling behind, if you think it’s too hard to get your social security benefits. So I think there’s somewhere in between that most people fall.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
Recent Comments