(Matt Lamb, Headline USA) Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison claimed that opposition to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in the federal government—including preferential hiring practices—was about harming racial minorities, LGBT people and people with disabilities.
Ellison—a former member of Congress and deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee—made the comments to Bloomberg Law in the context of Vice President-elect JD Vance’s prior legislation to “redefine DEI as discrimination,” according to the news outlet.
“You can’t get rid of DEI and not open the door to racial discrimination,” Ellison told Bloomberg. “To say we’re going to eradicate DEI is saying we’re going to eradicate [b]lack and [b]rown people and women and gay people and people with disabilities.”
The June legislation would prohibit DEI programs at both federal entities and government contractors, and any recipients of taxpayer dollars, according to a news release from Vance’s Senate office.
While there have been some high-profile rollbacks of DEI at the corporate level, such as at Harley Davidson, these initiatives may also just be rebranding within a company, according to CNN.
In an article published Tuesday, it dubiously suggested that companies benefited from the controversial practices. However, four commonly cited studies from McKinsey and Company that purport to make the financial case for DEI have faced scrutiny from scholars who questioned their findings.
Meanwhile, a new study from Rutgers University found that diversity trainings make people more hostile.
Despite having championed himself as an opponent of racism, Ellison himself has a questionable history of promoting bigotry that supports his agenda.
The Gopher State’s top prosecutor, who oversaw the trial for white ex-police officer Derek Chauvin following the Minneapolis death of George Floyd in 2020, was exposed for making untruthful statements about his ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Ellison previously belonged to the notoriously anti-Semitic group but said in 2006, when first running for Congress, that he was no longer involved, according to Jewish News Service.
He made a similar statement in 2016. However, he did indeed meet with Farrakhan at least three times after he entered Congress, including one time in the Nation of Islam leader’s hotel room.
Ellison also has campaigned with an anti-Semitic activist who called Jews “Satanic.”
The Minnesota Democrat also faced accusations of domestic violence at the peak of the #MeToo movement that ultimately may have derailed any aspirations to become DNC chair.
The attorney general’s ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan, accused him in 2018 of dragging her off their bed and yelling obscenities at her.
Monahan failed to produce a video that she claimed could substantiate the allegations, but her son, Austin, said he had seen the video of the incident.
“I only know what I saw and I know what’s true,” Austin said at the time. “It was my job to stand up for my mother. … I have no reason to tear down this man.”
