Merit Over Mayhem

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Charles Mason
June 6, 2025

There are many articles supporting DEI and CRT. These articles praise the familiar defense of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies through a lens of institutional power and racial frameworks. While some authors’ analysis aligns with the ideological scaffolding erected by academia over the past three decades, it demands a counter-analysis that defends merit-based systems and refutes CRT and DEI’s unfalsifiable and self-justifying worldview.

The Root of the Problem

CRT, originating in legal theory, fundamentally asserts that America’s institutions are inherently and permanently racist and must be deconstructed and re-engineered based on race-conscious outcomes. DEI, born of this philosophy, operationalizes it by embedding racial preferences into hiring, promotion and education—not as exceptions to the rule, but as the new rule.

The “Institutional Racial Paralysis” (IRP) framework cited in the article relies heavily on circular logic: any resistance to race-based policies is treated not as a rational objection but as proof of embedded racism. According to this view, even colorblind policies are redefined as oppressive because they maintain “white hegemony.” This Marxian inversion of equality weaponizes guilt, strips individuals of agency and entrenches the soft bigotry of low expectations.

Disparate Impact

Rissler laments the Trump administration’s elimination of “disparate-impact liability,” framing it as a move to obscure racial inequality. But let’s be clear: disparate impact doctrine punishes outcomes without proving intent, meaning any neutral policy that statistically disadvantages a favored group, regardless of reason, can be ruled discriminatory.

This flips Western legal tradition on its head. Intent, the cornerstone of justice, is replaced by assumed bias. This creates a chilling effect in hiring, admissions and enforcement, where merit is sacrificed on the altar of racial outcome parity. No longer is the question, “Did you discriminate?” but “Do your results fit our racial narrative?”

This is not justice. It is a permanent racial quota system—an Orwellian distortion of civil rights law.

The Fallacy of “Oppression = Prejudice + Power”

Rissler repeats the core dogma of anti-racism seminars: that only people in power can be racist. This dogma is not only logically incoherent but morally dangerous.

• It redefines racism as a power dynamic, not a sin of the heart or error of judgment. This exonerates minorities from racism categorically, no matter how hateful or prejudiced their views.

• It reframes justice as power redistribution, not the impartial application of law or truth.

• It excuses vengeance and tribalism, as long as the “oppressed” are the perpetrators.

But prejudice is not the exclusive sin of the powerful. It is a universal human failing, and pretending otherwise destroys the basis for shared morality, repentance and reconciliation.

DEI’s Effect: Division, Mediocrity and Institutional Collapse

In the name of “inclusion,” DEI programs:

• Undermine meritocracy, lowering standards to meet diversity quotas

• Sow division, making race and identity central to every organizational decision

• Drain productivity, as hiring and promotion decisions shift from performance to identity metrics

• Erode public trust, as institutions prioritize “equity” over competence

American cities and universities most gripped by DEI doctrine—like San Francisco, Portland and Ivy League institutions—show signs of deep institutional rot. Rising crime, academic censorship, plummeting enrollment and civic dysfunction are not bugs in the system—they are features of policies that prize ideology over reality.

What CRT and DEI Replace

Before CRT and DEI, American progress was built on the principles of:

• Equal protection under the law (not equal outcomes)

• Colorblind justice (not race-based punishment and preference)

• Individual responsibility (not inherited guilt or group victimhood

• Opportunity for all (not perpetual grievance politics)

Trump’s recent executive order, “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy,” is not an attack on civil rights—it is a reaffirmation of their original spirit. It restores:

• A belief in the dignity of hard work

• A focus on character and performance over identity

• A legal system grounded in intent and impartiality

This is not “paralysis”—this is correction.

Why We Must Stand for Merit

Meritocracy is the only fair system in a pluralistic nation. It judges individuals based on what they do, not what they look like. By contrast, DEI and CRT are racial technocracies—top-down schemes to reengineer society by labeling people as either oppressed or oppressor.

If you object to this labeling? You’re proof of the problem.

This is not scholarship. This is ideological colonization.

We must:

• Eliminate DEI bureaucracies from federal, state and educational institutions

• Reject CRT’s divisive framework in law, curriculum and policy

• Uphold equal protection by law—not by group affiliation

• Support leaders and institutions that stand for excellence, truth and merit over ideology

Courage Is the New Equity

America stands at a moral crossroads. One road leads to a racialized caste system, maintained by bureaucrats, guilt campaigns and permanent revolution. The other leads back to our foundational principles: liberty, equal justice and merit.

To take that road, we must reject the manipulative frameworks like IRP and DEI and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who refuse to be judged by race or ideology, but by the content of their character.

We must have the courage to say: enough.

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Author: Charles Mason, Ph.D., is a graduate of Walden University in Public Policy and Administration specializing in Criminal Justice. He is also a graduate of Barry University with an MPA and a graduate of Vincennes University with a Bachelor of Science in Homeland Security and Public Safety. He has over 30 years of experience in security, local law enforcement, state corrections and military service. He is currently president of Mason Academy. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: https://twitter.com/DRCharlesMason

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