Give Me Diversity or Give Me Death!

As General George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, famously said
after the jihad massacre by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood in November 2009: “It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”

Apparently the U.S. State Department feels the same way, because it is hosting a confab tomorrow on “Diversity, Inclusion and U.S. Foreign Policy”.

Boy, I wish this important strategy session had convened during our “Diversity” fundraiser last week — it would have provided us with a wealth of material, and saved Dymphna and me a lot of writing.

The following press release describes a gathering of “top diversity leaders” in a public/private partnership united under the banner of… of… well… not really united at all.

Just diverse.

You can tell how “diverse” it is by the fact that the only participating bureaucratic entity dedicated to a specifically named favored minority group is the Office of the Special Representative to Muslim Communities. In other words, “promoting diversity” is codespeak for “dancing to the tune of the Muslim Brotherhood”.

Celebrating diversity, insh’allah!

Set your alarm for the crack of dawn tomorrow, because you’ll need to be up early to catch the keynote address at 8:45 a.m. by Dr. Ernest Wilson III, Dean of the Annenberg School of Public Diplomacy. His topic: “Why Diversity is ‘Mission Critical’ for the U.S.”

Oh, wait. You can’t go, after all, because only credentialed journalists can get in. The standards for journalism in D.C. are the same as those in Norway, which means that right-wing extremists and Islamophobes don’t stand a chance.

Oh well — enjoy the presser, anyway (the bolded text in the first couple of paragraphs is my doing):

State Department to Host 100 Diversity Leaders to Strategize and Partner on “Diversity, Inclusion and U.S. Foreign Policy”

Notice to the Press
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC

June 5, 2012

The Office of the Special Representative to Muslim Communities together with the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and the Office of Civil Rights, will host the first ever strategy session on Diversity, Inclusion and U.S. Foreign Policy. The U.S. Department of State will convene 100 top diversity leaders from the public and private sectors to focus on the impact of diverse professional environments and the way in which the diversity and inclusion agenda informs U.S. foreign policy.

The program opens promptly at 8:30 a.m. on June 7 in the Marshall Center with opening remarks from Senator Ben Cardin (D/MD), Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith, and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources at the Department of State. Presentations and working groups continue throughout the day until 4:30 p.m. Dr. Ernest Wilson III, Dean of the Annenberg School of Public Diplomacy, will offer the keynote address at 8:45 a.m. on “Why Diversity is ‘Mission Critical’ for the U.S.” Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Robert D. Hormats will address the session at 2:35 p.m.

Participants will include U.S. government leaders from the White House, Congress, USAID, the Department of State, Peace Corps, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Navy, and Chief Diversity Officers from leading U.S. corporations, educational institutions, and nonprofit and other organizations, including Merck, Citigroup, Wal-Mart, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, McDonald’s, Abercrombie & Fitch, GlaxoSmithKline, American Red Cross, United Way Worldwide, Harvard University, Cornell University, and many others. The International Society of Diversity and Inclusion Professionals and the Society for Human Resource Management are partners in this event.

(join the conversation at twitter hash tag #diusfp12)

The event is open to credentialed members of the media. Pre set for Cameras: 7:15 a.m. from the 21st Street entrance lobby.

Final access for writers and still photographers: 8:00 a.m. from the 21st Street entrance lobby.

Media representatives may attend this event upon presentation of one of the following: (1) A U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver’s license, passport).

Press Contacts:
Lora Berg
Office of the Special Representative to Muslim Communities
202-647-7954
berglj@state.gov

Evan Owen
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor
202-647-4747
owene@state.gov

Office of Press Relations
202-647-2492