Why We Shouldn’t Play ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors Diversity’

It’s a no-win game.

Right-wing losers, including Elon Musk, reacted in immediate horror to the diverse casting in Chris Nolan’s blockbuster The Odyssey. Their complaints were characteristically bigoted and silly, especially the paranoid conspiracy theory that Nolan, who already has two Academy Awards, made casting decisions specifically so The Odyssey would meet the Academy’s supposed “woke” diversity mandate. This is laughable on Musk’s very laughable face, but it all fits a consistent theme, one the late Charlie Kirk often promoted — diversity is never natural or even justified. Diversity is only ever proof of corruption and moral compromise.

Thus, it’s disappointing whenever I see the left respond similarly to perceived lack of diversity, or at least the diversity they might prefer.

Earlier this week, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee posted the images of nine Senate candidates in swing states who they believe “are going to help flip the Senate in 100 days.” Artist and activist Tina Duryea responded, “The appalling lack of diversity in this line up is disheartening.” The implication here is that the apparent lack of diversity is the result of malicious intent.

I should note here that I’ve interviewed Duryea and have no personal quarrel with her. I’m focusing on her post because I think it is emblematic of a growing issue among the center-left, one that will eventually consume us before we even have the chance to put up a fight against actual MAGA fascism.

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James Carville, Beware! We’re Talking With ‘Preachy Female’ Tina Duryea About Democratic Politics!

The nine candidates in the DSCC’s lineup is incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff from Georgia, Roy Cooper from North Carolina, Sherrod Brown from Ohio, Mary Peltola from Alaska, Josh Turek from Iowa, Chris Pappas from New Hampshire, James Talarico from Texas, Scott Colom from Mississippi, and Troy Jackson from Maine.

This is actually a reasonably diverse group: Ossoff is Jewish, Peltola is Yup’ik, Turek is a wheelchair user, Chris Pappas is openly gay, and Colom is a Black man who successfully lived past 40 in Mississippi. Yes, Talarico, Brown, and Jackson are straight white Christian men, but diversity is not the absence of straight white Christian men, who do still exist in America.

Duryea’s stated concern was that Peltola is the only woman among the nine candidates, but that outcome in itself isn’t “appalling” or “disheartening.” There’s no evidence that women didn’t win nominations in those primaries because of rampant Democratic sexism (despite what Jasmine Crockett’s less rational online supporters might insist). People simply voted for their preferred candidate.

I believe diversity is a net positive but if you obsess too much over outcomes, you can wind up playing a no-win game of “Rock Paper Scissors Diversity.” Colom is after all tying to unseat living Confederate monument Cindy Hyde-Smith, who’s a woman underneath the hood. Does that make her the “diverse” choice over the Democratic man? Or does Colum’s race cover Hyde-Smith’s gender?

Yes, America's Ready For A Woman President

Of course, most “pro-diversity” liberals would argue that even the whitest, least queer, rural white male who non-ironically drinks Pabst while watching sports in a bar is still preferable to a Republican from the most marginalized group. Feminist organizations would have eagerly endorsed Joe Biden over Nikki Haley in 2024, because they understood that policy is what matters most.

Republican John James is currently running for governor of Michigan, which would make him the first Black person to hold the position and one of just two sitting Black governors (three if Keisha Lance Bottoms prevails in Georgia), but Black political groups will obviously endorse and support Democrat Jocelyn Benson, who’s white, over James. Race will rightly factor very little in their decision.

The Democratic candidates in the contentious Michigan Senate primary are Rep. Haley Stevens, a white woman, and Abdul El-Sayed, a straight cisgender able-bodied male, true, but also Muslim. There are only three Muslims in Congress, and they are all women who barely have support from other Democrats and none are senators. Curiously, a lot of “pro-diversity” Democrats aren’t torn over their choice here. They’re backing Stevens — though they are perhaps making themselves feel better by pointing out that El-Sayed’s supporters aren’t very diverse, at least as they define diversity. But Blackness is not the only diversity. That’s what frustrates me whenever people claim Portland or Seattle isn’t “diverse.” (There’s a significant Asian population in both cities, particularly Seattle.) An obsession with selective diversity can result in ignoring everyone else around you.

Iowa Republican Senate nominee Ashley Hinson is very much a woman — so white and blonde that Elon Musk would cast her as Helen of Troy in his alternate version of The Odyssey (filmed in Klan-o-vision). She hopes to replace Joni Ernst, who was also a woman but who voted to confirm misogynist bigot Pete Hegseth. Not to risk “mansplaining,” but women’s rights (as well as human rights overall) are clearly better served with Ernst out of the Senate, and if Josh Turek defeats Hinson. That’s not simply a matter of “wheelchair crushes gender.” It’s about what the individuals believe. We should never lose sight of that.