Tag Archives: diversity and inclusion

Good News For America’s Veterans

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On Sunday, Just the News posted an article about the changes the Trump administration is bringing to the Veterans Administration.

The article reports:

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins is touting significant reforms in serving America’s veterans, arguing the Trump administration is reversing Biden-era trends by increasing visits while reducing backlogs and wait times.

Collins spoke exclusively to Just The News, No Noise television show Friday and said, “It is simply that the veteran comes first at the VA.

“We put back the only reason for us to exist. We put back at the very focus of what we do, is a veteran walking through the door or making a phone call or making an inquiry. And so, when you take a bureaucratic organization that for the lot of its time and energy has been spent on how does it treat itself instead of how did it treat its customer, then you have a way to start making great progress,” he added.

The improvements have come quickly in many areas that were suffering prior to Collins taking over the department.

The backlog of veterans waiting for VA benefits has decreased more than 49% (and up to 57% in later reports) since January 20, 2025, following a 24% increase during the Biden Administration.

The progress, officials say, stems from enhanced processing efficiency, with the VA achieving an all-time fiscal-year high by processing three million disability compensation and pension claims by September 30, 2025 — surpassing the previous record set in FY 2024.

The article concludes:

As of last spring, many Washingtonians were still working from home, despite the Covid-19 pandemic being long over. However, under Collins’ leadership, tens of thousands of VA employees have returned to in-office work to improve teamwork and service delivery. The department has terminated union contracts for most bargaining unit employees, redirecting millions in previously wasteful union spending back to veteran services.

The VA has also ended DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives at the department, reversing Biden-era policies and halting more than $14 million in related spending. Additionally, the department is phasing out treatment for gender dysphoria, described as a commonsense reform.

Putting a businessman in the White House is good for everyone.

The Insanity Continues

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I live in North Carolina. I live in eastern North Carolina–generally speaking the conservative end of the state. When I look at what is going on in some other areas of the state, I truly wonder if peace with all of our neighbors is possible.

On Tuesday, The New York Post reported:

Duke Medical School claims it is “white supremacy culture” to expect people of color to be on time in a strategic plan for creating an “anti-racist workforce.”

The medical school said its goal is to “catalyze anti-racist practice through education” in a 2021 plan titled “Dismantling Racism and Advancing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the School of Medicine.” The guide — praised by the school’s dean — called out what it deemed “white supremacy culture,” with its purported nitpicking about being on time, dress code, speech and work style. It also contains a series of negative terminology vis-à-vis white culture.

“White supremacy culture is the idea (ideology) that White people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to People of Color and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs and actions,” the document stated.

The document stated that America is rigged for the interests of white people, who get privileges, i.e., the “unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are White.”

If you don’t provide a standard for people to adhere to, they won’t adhere to it, and everyone will work at a less efficient level. If you arrive at work at 8:30 instead of 8 am, should you be paid for a full day? If you show up inappropriately dressed, should you meet with customers or clients? If you use improper English, do you expect people to assume you are educated and know what you are talking about? Do you expect the engineers you hire to be on board with the idea that two plus two equals four? Setting a standard lets everyone know what the rules are and where the boundaries are. It provides a more efficient workplace and a more pleasant workplace. If the same rules apply to everyone, everyone is more likely to be contented with the rules.

Focusing On The Wrong Thing

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On Thursday, Todd Starnes posted an article about a graduation speech given by Kansas City Chiefs football team kicker Harrison Butker at Benedictine College, a private Catholic school in Kansas.

The article reports:

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is facing the wrath of the National Football League.

He recently delivered a commencement address at Benedictine College, a private Catholic school in Kansas.

Butker encouraged women to embrace their vocation as a homemaker and that set off the heavy-set, magenta-haired feminist crowd.

“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” Mr. Butker said. “I’m on this stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation.”

He added: “It cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”

The Kansas City Chiefs kicker also blasted Gay Pride month and condemned President Biden’s stance on abortion.

“Our nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people, it appears you can both Catholic and pro-choice,” he said.

The article notes:

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for him to be fired.

“We demand accountability from our sports figures who should be role models promoting respect for all people regardless of their race, gender identity or sexual orientation,” read the Change.org petition. “We call upon the Kansas City Chiefs management to dismiss Harrison Butker immediately for his inappropriate conduct.”

Are these the same people who were quiet when some of the best players in the NFL were charged with various crimes such as sexual assault, driving under the influence, and drug use?

The article concludes

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” said Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, in a written statement to People. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

The NFL has an interesting definition of the word “inclusive.” Their definition does not include players who are pro-life, pro-family or pro-Catholic. And if the NFL is so inclusive – why aren’t there any female linebackers or quarterbacks in the league?

Harrison Butker’s speech expressed values that were mainstream in America less than fifteen years ago. Is our society or culture better off now that these values are no longer considered mainstream?

Preparing Our Military?

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On March 23, Judicial Watch released the following Press Release:

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 167 pages of records from the U.S. Department of Defense which show the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) has made race and gender instruction a top priority in the training of cadets.

The records include recommendations that the USAFA considers “Behavioral Science 362, ‘Class, Race, Gender, and Sexuality’ as a core class,” that all curriculum be reviewed for “D&I” (diversity and inclusion) topics, and that all cadets and staff be educated in “specific D&I concepts and skills in order to decrease incidents of microaggressions, unconscious bias, etc.”

Judicial Watch obtained the records in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc. (STARRS) against the U.S. Department of Defense for Air Force Academy records regarding “systemic racism,” as well as records of critical race theory at the Academy (Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc. v U.S. Department of Defense (No. 1:22-cv–02894)).

In the introduction to the September 21, 2020, “U.S. Air Force Academy Internal Racial Disparity Review,” Superintendent Lt. General Jay Silveria writes:

Systemic racism exists in our society. Identity groups, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or disability, have all experienced less-than-equal treatment in our nation, both historically and persisting in the present day. Ongoing events across our nation and around the world are a stark reminder that racism and social injustice continue to afflict our society. We must acknowledge that at USAFA we are not immune to these issues. What happens outside our gates also happens across our installation, and throughout the Cadet Wing. We would be naive to think otherwise, and negligent to ignore the impact of racism and injustice on our cadets, our permanent party and their families and our entire USAFA community.

Our military superiority relies on an incredibly diverse force of innovative individuals who must work cohesively as a team. There is no place in our words or actions for discrimination or racial bias of any kind, nor can we allow these behaviors to persist in the culture of our institution. A disregard for dignity and respect is corrosive to mission success, and will not be tolerated. To address these issues we must each, and as a cohesive team, look inward to continually examine ourselves and our institution for the prevalence of racism, discrimination, and injustice.

To that end, I directed what I hope will be an enduring, lasting effort to promote racial understanding and diversity in the context of leadership. These actions included the establishment of a Critical Conversations Working Group (CCWG), led by the Center for Character Development (CCLD), to facilitate recurring USAFA-wide critical conversations for cadets and permanent party. In addition, my Director of Staff and the Director of Equal Opportunity co-chaired an internal assessment and review for biases within our policies, processes, practices, curriculum, and artifacts. The objective of the assessment was to identify racial disparities unique to USAFA.

The Press Release concludes with other examples:

Two sets of records obtained by Judicial Watch in November 2021 related to the teaching of critical race theory in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Maryland’s largest school system, included a training course with information about a book titled “Antiracist Baby” that introduces the youngest readers to “the concept and power of antiracism,” and says it’s the “perfect gift” for “ages baby to age 3.”

Records from Loudoun County, VA, obtained in October 2021 revealed a coordinated effort to advance critical race theory initiatives in Loudoun County public schools despite widespread public opposition.

A training document provided to Judicial Watch in October 2021 by a whistleblower in the Westerly School District of Rhode Island, details how its schools are using teachers to push critical race theory in classrooms. The training course was assembled by the left-leaning Highlander Institute and cites quotes from Bettina Love, from whom the Biden administration distanced itself publicly after her statements equating “whiteness” to oppression.

Records produced in June 2021 by Wellesley Public Schools in Massachusetts confirmed the use of “affinity spaces” that divide students and staff based on race as a priority and objective of the school district’s “diversity, equity and inclusion” plan. The school district also admitted that between September 1, 2020, and May 17, 2021, it created “five distinct” segregated spaces.

Heavily redacted records obtained by Judicial watch in May 2021from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland included documents related to their $454,000 “Anti-racist system audit” and critical race theory classes. Students were taught that the phrase “Make America Great Again” was an example of “covert white supremacy.”

Please follow the link to read the entire Press Release. Children are not born racist; they are not born oppressors or oppressed. Those concepts are learned, and if those concepts are not taught correctly, they present a serious obstacle to unity in America.