Even if sometimes flawed in practice, the principle of DEI is good and would create a stronger Central Mass. economy, as it is meant to overcome barriers to provide opportunities for everyone to best use their natural talents and skills.
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Five years ago, WBJ Publisher Peter Stanton and I penned a letter saying diversity & inclusion is a core value of this publication. Even if sometimes flawed in practice, the principle of DEI is good and would create a stronger Central Mass. economy, as it is meant to overcome barriers to provide opportunities for everyone to best use their natural talents and skills.
Media outlets, including WBJ, are meant to be inclusive publications where all perspectives and opinions are welcome, especially when they disagree. So, the core values of most media publications tend to be fairly basic: democracy is good, crime is bad, businesses being profitable is good. When Peter & I wrote that letter in 2020, the inclusion of DEI as a core principle seemed non-controversial. Businesses in the region and nationally were putting out statements in support of DEI principles and were beginning the work of putting them into practice, including major local employers like UMass Memorial Health, TJX Cos., Hanover Insurance Group, and UMass Chan Medical School.
Fast forward five years, and DEI might be the most hot-button principle of this moment. Anti-DEI sentiment has been weaponized as a political tool; large portions of people reject certain efforts outright just because they are labeled DEI, even if they don’t fully understand the concept. Businesses are just trying to survive, attempting to serve their employee and customer bases in the face of overwhelming political pressure.
For her story “United force” on the cover of the March 24 edition of WBJ, Staff Writer Mica Kanner-Mascolo talked with the CEOs of three Central Massachusetts organizations who are very publicly sticking with their DEI initiatives: Spectrum Health Services, Fontaine Bros., and Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center. To them, deleting or modifying their DEI efforts would cause significant harm to their businesses over the short and long term, even if they are risking millions of dollars of revenue from federal government sources. I applaud their act of public bravery.
DEI remains a core value of WBJ, because what was true in 2020 remains true today. Even a year ago, this being a core principle for us would have been fairly innocuous, but times have certainly changed. But just because times are changing, that doesn’t mean your values should.
Brad Kane is the editor of the Worcester Business Journal.
