On being fashionable.

In the Missouri General Assembly:

HB 1024 Prohibits educational institutions from using state funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion purposes

Sponsor: Meirath, Mark (039)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2025
LR Number: 2244H.01I
Last Action: 01/27/2025 – Read Second Time (H)
Bill String: HB 1024
Next House Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
Calendar: Bill currently not on a House calendar
[….]

“…His professional background and commitment to his community equip him to serve his district with a practical, solutions-oriented approach…”

Is somebody going to tell him?

In the bill [pdf]:

[….]
173.2560. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Defunding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education Act”.
[….]

[….]
(2) “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” or “DEI”, any educational program course, initiative, or curriculum designed to promote, teach, or enforce principles related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI includes, but is not limited to, training, workshops, curriculum materials, student groups, and any other program or event related to such subjects.
[….]

That was so very…tautological. They have no idea what they’re supposed to be so bothered about.

Lord knows, we don’t want to acknowledge our diversity, include everyone, or treat everyone fairly.

“…For the poor it consists in sustaining and preserving the wealthy in their power and their laziness. The poor must work for this, in presence of the majestic quality of the law which prohibits the wealthy as well as the poor from sleeping under the bridges, from begging in the streets, and from stealing bread…” “The Red Lily” (1894), Anatole France

[….]
(2) (a) An educational institution that uses state funding for activities related to DEI shall return the amount of state funding used for such activities to the state treasury.
(b) In addition to the repayment of state funding, the offending educational institution shall lose all state funding for the fiscal year in which the violation occurs.
[….]

Punitive. They must really hate acknowledging our diversity, including everyone, and treating everyone fairly

[….]
4. (1) The department shall establish procedures to monitor the use of state funding in educational institutions and ensure compliance with this section.
(2) Any resident of the state or employee of an educational institution may file a complaint with the department if such individual believes an educational institution has violated this section.
(3) The department shall issue an annual report detailing the enforcement of this section. Such report shall include the number of violations and the total amount of state funding recovered.
[….]

Ah, the surveillance state along with a dash of snitch ethos. That’s so 21st-Century right wingnut.