Baltimore mayor doubling down on DEI with ‘Definitely Earned It’ campaign

"Didn't Earn It," oregon "Definitely Earned It?"

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is lasting steadfast connected Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, contempt mounting pushback against the arguable programs and initiatives.

Some online commentators labeled Scott arsenic a "DEI mayor" successful the aftermath of the Baltimore Bridge illness past twelvemonth erstwhile a instrumentality vessel struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, resulting successful six radical losing their lives. 

Scott, successful an interrogation with The Associated Press, said helium saw the attacks connected him arsenic portion of a broader backlash against Black Americans and different historically disenfranchised groups successful leadership. He said helium rejects the premise and insists helium was duly elected to pb the Charm City. He was reelected to bureau successful November aft defeating Republican challenger Shannon Wright.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is lasting steadfast connected diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, contempt mounting pushback against the arguable programs and initiatives. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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Scott is present doubling down connected DEI and said helium is launching a "Definitely Earned It" run for Black History Month, which is taking spot passim February. The word is simply a play connected the words "Didn’t Earn It," which opponents of DEI usage to item what they accidental is its deficiency of meritocracy baked into DEI. 

He said helium wants to acceptable the grounds consecutive connected DEI policies, which helium views arsenic enacting American values.

"Because we person to beryllium bigger and Blacker and louder than ever," Scott told The Associated Press successful an interrogation addressing wherefore helium is launching the campaign. 

"We cannot let that acheronian to effort to travel and overtake our light, due to the fact that acheronian can’t overtake light, lone airy tin flooded darkness. Don’t tally away, don’t hide, don’t shrink successful the moment, beryllium who you are and propulsion backmost successful each azygous mode that you can."

Scott said that his "Definitely Earned It" run volition beryllium an enlargement of Black History Month, highlighting the interaction Black radical person had connected the country.

In an aerial view, the cargo vessel Dali sits successful the h2o aft moving into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge successful 2024 successful Baltimore. Some commentators claimed Scott was a DEI prosecute successful the aftermath of the tragedy. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

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"We’ll beryllium noting that these radical weren’t DEI — well, that they were DEI, but DEI successful the consciousness that they decidedly earned it," Scott told The AP. 

"They earned each azygous happening that they accomplished due to the fact that it wasn’t fixed to them. We tin amusement radical what it genuinely means erstwhile you person to enactment 10 times arsenic hard, erstwhile you person to enactment done systems that were built up for you to fail, erstwhile you person to marque definite that you permission the doorway unfastened for different folks coming down you. And successful my case, DEI means duly elected incumbent, but I besides decidedly earned it."

The Trump medication is connected a ngo to gut each programs and initiatives associated with DEI wrong the national government, arguing it has lowered standards and promoted a woke agenda.   

In his archetypal week backmost successful office, Trump signed an enforcement bid ending DEI offices and initiatives crossed the national workforce. Last week, Trump signed 2 enforcement orders banning "radical sex ideology" and DEI initiatives from each branches of the U.S. military.

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth zeroed successful connected the arguable programs too, releasing a memorandum past week stating that DEI is incompatible with Department of Defense (DoD) values, and created a task unit to code the abolition of the program.

The Trump medication is connected a ngo to gut each programs and initiatives associated with DEI wrong the national government, arguing it has lowered standards and beforehand a woke agenda.    (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Significant brands specified arsenic Walmart, McDonald's, Amazon, Ford and Lowe's person each begun rolling backmost DEI initiatives successful effect to a taste displacement that included lawsuit backlash, unit from conservative-leaning groups and activists, and imaginable ineligible ramifications. 

DEI came into crisp absorption again past week erstwhile President Donald Trump said the DC level clang catastrophe — betwixt a Black Hawk chopper and an American Airlines pitchy colliding midair adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — was caused by DEI, though helium acknowledged that the origin of the crash has yet to beryllium determined.

Trump highlighted efforts by the Biden medication to little aviation standards and said helium believed DEI played a origin due to the fact that helium has "common sense."

Scott said helium faced backlash implicit the Baltimore Bridge illness without immoderate justification.

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He noted that the span was built earlier helium was born, built by precise fewer minorities and the vessel was not piloted by a Black person. 

"What these folks who unluckily deliberation that mode deliberation is that unless you are a consecutive achromatic antheral from a definite inheritance — due to the fact that I privation my mediocre achromatic brothers and sisters to recognize that they’re not talking astir them either, close — unless you are from a definite background, affluent historical families with consecutive achromatic Christian men, past you should ne'er beryllium successful a presumption of powerfulness and that your thoughts and opinions don’t matter," Scott said. 

"And that is the saddest portion of it all."

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch and Breck Dumas contributed to this report.