February 15, 2026
Yesterday I saw a post from the National Association of Black Geoscientists and it made me think of something I once read in a book by W.E.B. DuBois. He was talking about how America has a history of discouraging and murdering ability when that talent is present in people from the wrong background.
Witnessing the elimination of DEI in real time is incredibly discouraging to watch. The effort to find and nurture talent from historically forgotten communities is not only the right thing to do, but all of us benefit from the work of the additional scientists, engineers, and teachers that we could create.
This is not a zero sum game that requires us to ignore traditional pools of talent in order to make room for talent from excluded communities. Everyone benefits from expanding the number of educated individuals in our society.
