Elon Musk criticized by civil rights groups for posts calling DEI initiatives unsafe
www.nbcnews.com
In several posts on X, Musk claimed without evidence that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives put airline customers in danger.

In several posts on X, Musk claimed without evidence that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives put airline customers in danger.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk drew a swift rebuke from two of the nation’s best known civil rights organizations Wednesday, after he criticized efforts by United Airlines and Boeing to hire nonwhite pilots and factory workers.

The criticism came after Musk claimed in a series of posts on X that efforts to diversify workforces at those companies have made air travel less safe. He offered no evidence for the claim, and one of his replies directed attention to a post by someone else speculating about the IQ of Black airline employees.

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said Musk’s statements were “abhorrent and pathetic.” He noted that Tesla, where Musk is CEO, is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for alleged abuse of Black employees, including claims of racial slurs and nooses found in the workplace.

“Musk’s company not only refused to investigate complaints or take any steps to end the abuse, it viciously retaliated against employees who complained or opposed the abuse,” Morial said in a statement to NBC News, citing allegations from the suit.

  • rtxn@lemmy.worldEnglish
    316·
    11 months ago

    I was going to say that this is one of the rare instances where he’s not completely full of shit.

    Then I read the article. He somehow manages to be full of shit even when the premise (hiring for skill instead of diversity, especially in aviation) is logical.

    • Kraven_the_Hunter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      211·
      11 months ago

      I think your initial reaction shows that your falling into the same logic trap that people like Elon are, just not as extreme.

      DEI initiatives don’t mean, “hire the black guy so we look good”. They mean that where there are 2 candidates with equal qualifications, make an effort to hire the DEI candidate. Some organizations have implemented things like reviewing resumes with the names removed so that there’s no unconscious bias against folks with obvious non-white names. They also set targets to have X% of staff at various levels be female/non-white, etc. There’s no penalty for missing these numbers though, it’s a target that gets reviewed annually by executive management and that’s it.

      If you’re not making progress against the goal they’re going to ask why. If the answer is, “well sir/ma’am, I’m a racist” then of course you’re getting fired. If the answer is, "were not an attractive company to this class of people, then good organizations will try to figure out why and take steps to change that.

      And that’s really what hiring DEI candidates is all about. It’s not “punish white people for the sins of their ancestors”, “hire minorities regardless of how unqualified they are”, “put some chick on the board so we look good”, or anything like that.