Dozens of positions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion were shut down at the University of Texas at Austin, and many liberals were outraged and furious.
On Tuesday, about 60 workers were fired over SB 17, legislation passed by Republicans to ban DEI at public universities. The law banning DEI went into effect January 1 and has already led to controversy among some universities, which are resisting.
The Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors and the Texas NAACP accused the university of racism after claiming that the workers fired had already been in compliance with SB 17.
Some on the left spoke to KVUE-TV about their outrage.
“Honestly,” said Aaliyah Barlow, president of the Black Student Alliance, “I cried and I was angry.”
“A lot of people are upset,” said Chrisdianna Mcafee, a junior at UT. “All of my group chats are raging. All of the GroupMes, all of the Slacks – everybody is raging.”
She claimed that about 1,000 students met up to talk about the firings.
“It does hurt a lot to just really sit with the fact that they were told they would keep their jobs, and now they no longer have them,” Mcafee said. “This is just Texas… Texas does not want us here. Texas has never wanted us here.”
The official account for Texas Democrats said it was just the beginning.
“Texas Republicans banned DEI on college campuses. Now 60 people at UT Austin have lost their jobs, and this is just the beginning. SB 17 is anti-worker, anti-inclusion, and anti-Texas,” read a post on social media.
Others referred to the firings as a “purge” akin to those from the Soviet Russia era.
“I can’t help but see this as a purge of any staff who have training in DEI — literally like a McCarthy-era purge — because none of the staff who’ve been fired have any DEI in their portfolio right now,” said Karma Chávez, the chair of Mexican American and Latina/o studies. “All they had is a history of being in a DEI-related position.”
“The fact that they’re not doing that work now and they’re in compliance with the law doesn’t seem to be the point,” said Lisa Moore, chair of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies. “It seems to be the point that they are going to be bullied and harassed until they leave UT because they once worked in DEI.”
Chávez went on to claim that DEI opponents want to get rid of everyone except those with a “predominantly white, middle class, heterosexual, Christian background.”
Here’s more about the DEI ban in Texas:
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!