Why is the transportation secretary complaining about ‘DEI bike lanes’?
The basic idea behind diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is relatively straightforward: Schools, businesses and other institutions have used a range of policies and incentives to create diverse and inclusive workforces and student bodies. In recent years, Republicans and their allies decided that DEI is a “woke” scourge that must be defeated at all costs.
The trouble is that some in the party have adopted a rather expansive definition of the underlying idea. The New Republic noted this week:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday that his department would redirect $1.73 billion in Biden-era grants away from establishing “DEI bike lanes” to build roads and bridges instead.
So, what exactly is a “DEI bike lane?”
In case this isn’t obvious, the description of the transportation secretary’s announcement wasn’t intended as humor. Duffy actually wrote on social media, “Remember when Biden and Boot-edge-edge used YOUR MONEY for DEI bike lanes and climate change? THAT’S OVER.” (He was referring to Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, Duffy’s immediate predecessor at the DOT.)
Evidently, Duffy’s odd comment was a reference to Buttigieg having noted five years ago that federal grants to fund bike lane initiatives would serve to “improve infrastructure, strengthen supply chains, make us safer, advance equity, and combat climate change.”
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Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
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