If I wanted to test this premise using computer code then I believe I could start here:
The Myth of DEI as the Cause of Modern Disasters: A Logical and Historical Examination
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the federal civil rights law that serves as the foundation for affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These policies were designed to address historical discrimination and create equitable opportunities in education and the workforce. However, in recent years, a segment of society—particularly white racists and reactionary critics—has attempted to blame DEI initiatives for every societal failure, workplace inefficiency, and disaster in the United States.
From airplane crashes and building or bridge collapses to the recent Boeing door plug blowout, DEI is being scapegoated as the sole cause of these failures. The assertion is that DEI admissions in colleges and DEI-driven hiring practices have led to a workforce that is unqualified, thus causing catastrophic failures across multiple industries.
The False Premise of the Argument
For this claim to be valid, it would mean that prior to DEI initiatives—when the workforce was overwhelmingly white and male—such disasters never occurred. That would mean that prior to affirmative action, Title VII protections, and DEI policies, aviation, engineering, and infrastructure were flawless.
Yet, we know this is false.
History is filled with disasters that predate DEI, demonstrating that human error, flawed engineering, corporate negligence, and systemic failures have always been present—long before the advent of diversity initiatives.
Major Disasters That Occurred Before DEI Initiatives
Here is a list of well-documented disasters spanning aviation, infrastructure, engineering failures, and economic crises—long before DEI policies existed.
Aviation Disasters
Hindenburg Disaster (1937) – The German airship exploded upon docking in New Jersey, killing 36 people. This was due to the flammability of hydrogen gas, not DEI.
Tenerife Airport Disaster (1977) – The deadliest aviation accident in history (583 deaths) occurred when two Boeing 747s piloted by white men collided due to miscommunication.
United Airlines Flight 624 (1948) – A DC-6 crashed in Pennsylvania due to mechanical failure and pilot error, killing all 43 on board.
Maritime Disasters
Titanic Sinking (1912) – Over 1,500 people died after the "unsinkable" ship struck an iceberg due to poor ship design, lack of lifeboats, and hubris.
Lusitania Sinking (1915) – A German U-boat sank the British ocean liner, killing 1,198 people, pushing the U.S. closer to World War I.
Sultana Steamboat Disaster (1865) – The worst maritime disaster in U.S. history (1,200+ deaths) was caused by a boiler explosion on a Mississippi River steamboat.
Bridge & Infrastructure Failures
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (1940) – "Galloping Gertie" collapsed due to poor aerodynamic design, decades before DEI.
Silver Bridge Collapse (1967) – A fracture in a single eyebar caused the entire bridge to fail, killing 46 people.
St. Francis Dam Collapse (1928) – A catastrophic engineering failure in California killed over 400 people.
Engineering & Industrial Disasters
Halifax Explosion (1917) – A cargo ship carrying explosives collided with another ship, resulting in the largest human-made explosion before nuclear weapons, killing 1,782 people.
Boston Molasses Disaster (1919) – A giant tank burst, flooding the city with a 25-ft-high wave of molasses, killing 21 people.
Texas City Disaster (1947) – A ship carrying ammonium nitrate exploded in Texas, killing nearly 600 people in one of the deadliest industrial accidents in U.S. history.
Nuclear & Environmental Disasters
Chernobyl Disaster (1986) – A Soviet-era nuclear reactor explosion caused a massive radiation leak due to poor safety protocols and rushed testing.
Great Smog of London (1952) – Heavy air pollution caused respiratory issues, leading to over 4,000 deaths.
Economic & Financial Disasters
Stock Market Crash of 1929 & The Great Depression (1930s) – Led to widespread poverty and suffering due to deregulation, reckless speculation, and banking failures.
Panic of 1873 – An economic collapse triggered by railroad speculation and financial mismanagement.
Logical Conclusion: Correlation ≠ Causation
The claim that DEI is responsible for all modern disasters falls apart under scrutiny:
Disasters have always occurred, even before civil rights laws, affirmative action, or DEI policies existed.
The presence of DEI hires in an organization does not prove that DEI caused a specific failure.
There is no evidence that DEI policies result in lower competence, nor that they have made fields like engineering, aviation, or medicine less safe.
Every single disaster prior to DEI was caused by an entirely white workforce, meaning that if DEI is responsible for today’s failures, then white men must be held responsible for every failure before DEI.
Blaming DEI while ignoring the long history of engineering, aviation, and industrial disasters is a clear example of cherry-picking data to fit a predetermined racist narrative.
Final Thought
When someone insists that DEI is the reason for modern disasters, they must also explain why catastrophic failures occurred when the workforce was 100% white—and they cannot.
The existence of major disasters long before DEI proves that human error, incompetence, and systemic failures have always been present, regardless of who was in charge.
Rather than blaming DEI, the focus should be on actual causes of disasters—corporate negligence, deregulation, inadequate safety measures, and underfunded public infrastructure. Scapegoating DEI is not only factually incorrect but also a dangerous distraction from solving real-world problems.
