Just Making America's Government Look Like America

Dr. Joseph Desoto in a letter to the Spirit on Aug 7 wants us to know that he is a Christian and that he is mistrustful of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). DEI in government promotes the idea that government workers should represent the color, class, and makeup of the American people. Anthony Blinken, Biden’s Secretary of State, set up a formal DEI initiative under the direction of Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, a 30-year veteran of the State Department and a former ambassador to Malta. Her mission was to assure that the State Department personnel look like America. Her job was not to mandate hiring of certain kinds of people, but to make sure that all kinds of people have opportunities to apply and compete for jobs, and to succeed in those jobs.

When Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley was in her first year in the job, a document surfaced claiming that it was State Department policy not to hire white men or Christians or people with disabilities. Senator Ted Cruz brought her before the Foreign Relations Committee to testify. The document in question wasn’t a high-level government memo; it was an email. It was not signed and it had no recipient listed. Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley testified she had never seen the email (she was not believed). She testified that the claims raised in the memo would be illegal (she was not believed). She testified that hiring practices in the State Department clearly showed that these groups were represented in hires (she was not believed). The testimony is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx_lHD6Cz9Q.

The Chair of the Oversight Committee, Robert Menendez, remarked that Senator Cruz had presented an anonymous, unattributed email whose authenticity he had not verified. Yet Dr. Desoto claims that it was “widespread and at the highest levels of government.”  It was not. Further Dr. Desoto, following Senator Cruz’s insinuations, jumps to the conclusion that the State Department with Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley as its “czar” (her title was Officer) is waging a war on Christianity. In fact it’s Senator Cruz and Dr. Desoto who are waging a war, with fake ammunition, on a Democratic administration dedicated to fairness. And yes, the State Department does hire non-Christians, for instance, Arabic speaking muslim American citizens to represent America in Arabic speaking countries. Doesn’t that make sense? Is it evidence of a war against Christians? 

Then to broaden his pitch into full blown conspiracy theory, Dr. Desoto links this fake document and DEI generally as evidence for why Donald Trump was shot and other attempts were made on his life. But to balance out the evidence, threats against all public officials, including President Biden, according to reporting by National Public Radio and CNN in 2023.

By the way, Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley resigned her position in 2023 and has been succeeded by Zakiya Carr Johnson, another Black woman with similarly strong ideas about fairness and ensuring the State Department represents America. Secretary Blinken evidently still believes that the State Department mission to show the world America’s best side means his department has to look like America.