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Something close to an obituary for DEI — diversity, equity, inclusion — appeared in the Wall Street Journal on April 21, titled, “Diversity Goals Are Disappearing From Companies’ Annual Reports: Dozens of firms change what and how they report diversity initiatives; deleting the word ‘diverse’ or cutting whole sections.” I have a confession to make. While, like most people, I’ve heard lots of bad stuff about DEI, I could not really explain what it is or how it is supposed to benefit our society.

And I’m not alone. In fact, before writing this story, I phoned several lawyer friends and asked them to describe what DEI is. No one could provide a clear answer, but I often heard, “It is reverse discrimination and punishes white people for being successful.



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So, to fill the gap in my own lack of understanding, I interviewed attorney Ann Thomas , chief diversity and inclusion officer of the nationwide law firm Stinson LLP . She is a dynamic lecturer for LearnFormula — a provider of continuing legal education podcasts — and explained what DEI is and how, sadly, it has been misinterpreted and, in effect, hijacked. Thomas fir.

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