“Didn’t Earn It,” or “Definitely Earned It?”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is standing firm on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, despite mounting pushback against the controversial programs and initiatives.
Some online commentators labeled Scott as a “DEI mayor” in the wake of the Baltimore Bridge collapse last year when a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, resulting in six people losing their lives.
Scott, in an interview with The Associated Press, said he saw the attacks on him as part of a broader backlash against Black Americans and other historically disenfranchised groups in leadership. He said he rejects the premise and insists he was duly elected to lead the Charm City. He was reelected to office in November after defeating Republican challenger Shannon Wright.
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Scott is now doubling down on DEI and said he is launching a “Definitely Earned It” campaign for Black History Month, which is taking place throughout February. The term is a play on the words “Didn’t Earn It,” which opponents of DEI use to highlight what they say is its lack of meritocracy baked into DEI.
He said he wants to set the record straight on DEI policies, which he views as enacting American values.
“Because we have to be bigger and Blacker and louder than ever,” Scott told The Associated Press in an interview addressing why he is launching the campaign.
“We cannot allow that darkness to try to come and overtake our light, because darkness can’t overtake light, only light can overcome darkness. Don’t run away, don’t hide, don’t shrink in the moment, be who you are and push back in every single way that you can.”
Scott said that his “Definitely Earned It” campaign will be an expansion of Black History Month, highlighting the impact Black people have had on the country.
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“We’ll be noting that these people weren’t DEI — well, that they were DEI, but DEI in the sense that they definitely earned it,” Scott told The AP.
“They earned every single thing that they accomplished because it wasn’t given to them. We can show people what it truly means when you have to work 10 times as hard, when you have to work through systems that were built up for you to fail, when you have to make sure that you leave the door open for other folks coming behind you. And in my case, DEI means duly elected incumbent, but I also definitely earned it.”
The Trump administration is on a mission to gut all programs and initiatives associated with DEI within the federal government, arguing it has lowered standards and promoted a woke agenda.
In his first week back in office, Trump signed an executive order ending DEI offices and initiatives across the federal workforce. Last week, Trump signed two executive orders banning “radical gender ideology” and DEI initiatives from all branches of the U.S. military.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth zeroed in on the controversial programs too, releasing a memorandum last week stating that DEI is incompatible with Department of Defense (DoD) values, and created a task force to address the abolition of the program.
Significant brands such as Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon, Ford and Lowe’s have all begun rolling back DEI initiatives in response to a cultural shift that included customer backlash, pressure from conservative-leaning groups and activists, and possible legal ramifications.
DEI came into sharp focus again last week when President Donald Trump said the DC plane crash disaster — between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet colliding midair near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — was caused by DEI, though he acknowledged that the cause of the crash has yet to be determined.
Trump highlighted efforts by the Biden administration to lower aviation standards and said he believed DEI played a factor because he has “common sense.”
Scott said he faced backlash over the Baltimore Bridge collapse without any justification.
He noted that the bridge was built before he was born, built by very few minorities and the ship was not piloted by a Black person.
“What these folks who unfortunately think that way think is that unless you are a straight white male from a certain background — because I want my poor white brothers and sisters to understand that they’re not talking about them either, right — unless you are from a certain background, wealthy historic families with straight white Christian men, then you should never be in a position of power and that your thoughts and opinions don’t matter,” Scott said.
“And that is the saddest part of it all.”
Fox News’ Alexandra Koch and Breck Dumas contributed to this report.
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