Elon Musk has spent months fulminating against diversity, equity, and inclusion and, at times, promoting far-right theories, like The Great Replacement, on his platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a roughly hourlong and painfully uncomfortable exchange with former CNN anchor Don Lemon, Musk doubled down on an assortment of his DEI criticisms while fumbling over how to define terms like “woke” and backtracking, albeit slightly, on antisemitic rhetoric he’s shared.
The full interview is worth watching, though it’s admittedly hard to get through. On the topic of race and discrimination, Musk repeatedly failed to answer Lemon’s questions directly. Instead, he prevaricated when asked pointed questions, such as what evidence he has that DEI programs lower standards of entry for people of color, specifically in sectors like medicine. Musk dodged the question, stating that his repost suggesting as much on X was a hypothetical rather than a statement of fact. (It wasn’t.)
Lemon also flagged Musk’s comments linking the Boeing midflight malfunction to diversity efforts. At the time, Musk had responded to an X user who speculated that the intelligence of United Airlines pilots who attend historically Black colleges and universities is lower than that of Air Force pilots. “It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of DIE,” Musk wrote, misspelling DEI. In a separate response, Musk wrote, “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening.”
Lemon noted that Boeing took ownership of the plane malfunction, stating that it was not a pilot error but rather a door plug blowout. In fact, the pilot was a woman who managed to land the plane safely.
When flatly asked whether he believes in diversity and inclusion, Musk said he believes people should be treated “according to their skills and integrity, and that’s it,” a comment he often made throughout the interview. It’s an argument I’ve heard time and time again from those who oppose DEI. The irony, however, is that the very creation of DEI programs was meant to combat the fact that people of diverse backgrounds are not hired based solely on their skills and talent.
Musk also dismissed recent racial discrimination lawsuits against his EV company Tesla, which last month settled for an undisclosed amount, following a $3.2 million judgment in court to a Black former Tesla elevator operator.
“If there’s over 20,000 people in one building, is anyone gonna behave perfectly? No,” Musk admitted. “Did I see any situations that I thought were improper? I did not.”
What seems to be Musk’s biggest gripe with DEI is what he perceives as an endless discussion of racial inequities. “Society blames a lot of things on [racism],” he said. “Trying to make everything a race issue is divisive and corrosive to society.”
Musk acknowledged that he finds that to be unfair, although he didn’t specify who it’s unfair toward—presumably white men. “We should not make this a constant subject. We need to move on.”
In his closing salvo on DEI, Musk said that every country has had a measure of slavery and racism against another group. “If you study history broadly, everyone was a slave,” he said, an assertion Lemon pushed back on.
Musk added, “We as a country should move beyond questions of race and gender. We should treat people as individuals and base our opinion of them on their characters and skills.”
“I don’t think anyone would disagree with that,” Lemon said. “All I’m saying is that that’s not happening.”
Join me in NYC on April 25th for a DEI roundtable hosted by FleishmanHillard to discuss what lies ahead for the industry. Space is limited. Sign up here.
Ruth Umoh
@ruthumohnews
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
What’s Trending
Free speech. A federal appeals court ruled that a Florida law prohibiting diversity and race-based discussions in private workplaces is unconstitutional. AP
Rebrand. In an effort to rehabilitate his image after FTX went belly up, the fallen crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried debated coming out as a Republican and fighting against the “woke agenda.”
Next frontier. Conservatives are launching legal challenges against state programs that aim to increase racial and ethnic diversity across industries, from teaching to farming. WaPo
Small win. The American Academy of Dermatology rejected a proposal to end its DEI programs after dozens of members authored a resolution to end such initiatives at the institution. NBC News
The Big Think
The venerable New York Times scribe and founder of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones, has an indispensable and thought-provoking read on the color-blind campaign to undo civil rights progress. The piece also touches on who actually benefits from affirmative action—Black or otherwise.
"The descendants of slavery, for whom affirmative action originated, remain underrepresented among college students," Hannah-Jones writes. "At elite universities, research shows, the Black population consists disproportionately of immigrants and children of immigrants rather than students whose ancestors were enslaved here."
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