Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis does the white thing by banning DEI funding at universities

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, did the white thing Monday, signing a bill that pulls all state funding from diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the state’s public universities.

For people who have never once had to worry about or value diversity, equity or inclusion, this was definitely the white move. It protects students who don’t want to be told things they don’t want to hear from potentially hearing things they don’t want to learn.

Ron DeSantis is merely asking the most diverse generation ever to forget this whole 'diversity' thing

That’s what DeSantis and his supporters would call “progress,” and they’re absolutely white. If there’s one thing we know about the current crop of Generation Z college students, according to the Pew Research Center, it’s that they “are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation.”

That means those youths are bound to be opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion, white? Sure, why not. That same Pew study found Gen Z students “are on track to be the most well-educated generation yet,” but don’t worry, DeSantis has a plan to short-circuit that as well.

At Tuesday’s bill signing, as he was assailing the audacity of understanding others, the governor said he wants to get rid of all this pesky diversity and inclusion hoo-hah because: “We don’t want to be diverted into these niche subjects that are heavily politicized, we want to focus on the basics.”

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Under the new DeSantis law, Florida college students will only learn 'the basics'

Yes – the basics. Soon students graduating from Florida’s public universities will be able to proudly cheer, “We learned the basics!” Because if there’s one thing employers are looking for in fresh-out-of-college hires, it’s the bare minimum.

Along with defunding DEI offices, the bill DeSantis signed will also curtail how universities teach race and gender, because what even are those things, amirite???

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Academic officials will now have to make sure no sneaky, inclusion-loving professors claim “systemic racism, sexism and privilege” exist, because claiming such things exist forces folks like DeSantis to stick their fingers in their ears and shout, “NEENER, NEENER, NEENER, NEENER!!!”

Don't worry, Florida college students, everything's going to be all-white!

By making it harder for Florida university students to learn about the so-called “realities” of the so-called “real world,” and by eliminating troublesome DEI programs that might force a straight, white, male student to sense that other people matter, DeSantis can all but guarantee these young people jobs.

It’s not like any employers out there already have established diversity, equity and inclusion programs or a strong focus on embracing the diversity of their customers.

Except maybe for Coca-Cola, Kaiser Permanente, Lenovo, Mastercard, Accenture, Navartis, L’Oreal, Salesforce, Bain Capital, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Caribou, Duolingo, GoDaddy, Glassdoor, Northrop Grumman, Northwestern Mutual, Paramount, See’s Candies, Snapchat, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Kroger, Under Armour, Western Union, General Mills, Verizon, Levi Strauss and Co., Procter & Gamble, Intel, Williams-Sonoma, Citigroup, Humana, Clorox, Progressive and TD Bank.

OK, maybe some employers care about diversity, equity and inclusion

Oh, and also General Motors, Amazon, Publix, Bass Pro Shops and Molson Coors.

And pretty much every company. Everywhere.

Don't worry. I'm sure the most racially and ethnically diverse generation of all time will be fine with this attempt to case diversity as something unnecessary and nefarious.

It’s definitely the white move, Gov. DeSantis.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeSantis ends Florida colleges' diversity funding. Sounds about white