Today we continue with a series of reflections on the shared values in Unitarian Universalism that were recently adopted by the UUA General Assembly in 2024. The last five times I was with you, we looked at the values of interdependence, pluralism, justice, transformation, generosity, and today I will be reflecting on the value of equity. 

In describing equity in the UU Shared Values, the General Assembly adopted the following language: “We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion. We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully accessible and inclusive communities.”

“DEI is dead!” they say. “Meritocracy is back!” they say. But let’s hear clearly what they are really saying. Don’t let them hide behind three letters of the alphabet. Spell it out! 

They are saying diversity, equity, and inclusion are dead. They are saying that our diversity is not a strength to celebrate but rather a weakness to denigrate. They are saying diversity is dead. 

They are saying that equity. which includes equitable access to education, healthcare, economic opportunity, fairness, and justice is no longer a value. They are saying equity is dead. 

They are saying that inclusion is dead. They are saying that being an inclusive community that welcomes all persons and that respects the sacred value, rights, and dignity of all persons is no longer something for which we should aspire. They are saying that inclusion is dead, and they are making it clear that they want to exclude as many black and brown immigrants and refugees from our communities as they possibly can, they want to exclude women from having personal autonomy and reproductive rights, and they want to exclude persons who are LGBTQIA+ by ignoring their rights and doing all they can to erase our transgender siblings from existence, and don’t think for a second that when they think they have gotten away with deleting the T that they won’t come after the LGBQIA+. Recalling the spirit of the chilling warning of Pastor Martin Niemöller, “First they came for our transgender siblings…” – whether we are transgender or not, we must speak out and act out. 

And when they say “meritocracy is back,” what are they really saying? And let me note that that some of the persons who say “meritocracy is back” the most loudly and with the most fervor are actually some of the least qualified persons to be in the positions they are currently occupying. 

When they say “meritocracy is back” it means they no longer feel inhibited from hiring white cis-gender males to positions of power and authority regardless of whether they are the most qualified to hold such positions. It is not an accident that the first two generals to be fired from the Joint Chiefs of Staff are the only black man and only woman among its ranks. 

History shows us that weakening equity in community is an enemy of democracy. The perpetuation of unfair, unequal, and unjust outcomes destroys the conditions necessary for full and fair participation in the political process and in the greater life of our society. 

Tragically, the Supreme Court of the United States under Chief Justice John Roberts has been engaged in a two-decades long attack on equity in the United States of America that set the stage for the American fascism we are now experiencing. By weakening provisions of the Voting Rights Act and by allowing unlimited amounts of money to be spent on political influence, the Roberts’ Court set the table for the feast that the oligarchs are currently consuming, a feast at a table only the oligarchs can afford. 

The greed and influence of oligarchs and toxic combination of racism and patriarchy within Christian nationalism pose the greatest threats to diversity, equity, inclusion, and solidarity within our society. 

If we take a hard look at the history of the United States, the fact that a large percentage of white people are now wanting to deport as many black and brown people as possible, reverse birthright citizenship, and even denaturalize black and brown naturalized citizens to keep white people from no longer being the majority of the population pretty much fits the script of our racist past. We will never be a great country if we cannot repent of America’s original sin of racism, and working relentlessly for justice with equity is a necessary condition for that repentance. 

Today, the United States no longer forcefully brings black and brown people to our shores in chains, but now we forcefully send black and brown people away in chains and post videos of it on official White House social media like it is some great accomplishment rather than the horrific moral failure that it is. And when followers of the way of love and justice speak out against such sin and plead for mercy for the most vulnerable among us, they find themselves condemned by Christian nationalists who accuse the followers of love and justice of being guilty of the sin of empathy. I don’t know what Bible they are reading, but I don’t see anything in the Bible’s portrayal of the life and teachings of Jesus that would even remotely consider empathy to be a sin. We are witnessing a societal sickness; a sickness unto death.

One of the main things keeping the United States from becoming a just, diverse, equitable, and inclusive society is a majority of white people who are scared they will be treated like black and brown people when they become a minority of the population. Deep down they know we are a deeply racist country, and they are frightened out of their racist minds that the chickens are coming home to roost.

It is not a coincidence that the historically most blatantly racist states and communities are the ones most proactively attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. It is not a coincidence that the states and communities most opposed to the oft cited and almost never understood critical race theory are those states and communities with a blatantly racist past. It is not a coincidence that the states and communities that claim to be the most anti-woke are also the states and communities that are historically the most blatantly racist. It is not a coincidence that the states and communities with the most blatantly racist histories want to limit the teaching of black history and downplay the horrific evils of slavery. In their work against antiracism, their racism is once again on full display and set in bold relief for the world to see. Being antiracist means recognizing that not teaching about the history of racism in the United States and not actively seeking to overcome it is immoral.

“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are dead,” they say. This is not the first time that an empire overcome by evil has pronounced a movement that it saw as a threat as being dead, and it will likely not be the last. But often times, empires are surprised by the resilience of the resistance against them, and just when they think they have killed it, eliminated it, erased it, and they think they have sealed it up out of sight to be forgotten by all, it finds a way of coming back to life, and though it may not seem so now, it is really difficult to keep love and justice from coming back to life. 

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