Joy Reid and her guest: DEI is about accommodating disabled veterans

Joy Reid had Everett Kelley on her show, The ReidOut. Kelley is the national president for the American Federation of Government Employees. Both Reid and Kelley argued that DEI was about helping disabled veterans work for the government. Kelley insisted that DEI wasn’t about “affirmative action”. He claimed that DEI made it possible for a veteran, injured in the military, to work in the government via accommodations for his/her disability.

From mrcNewsBusters:

JOY REID: This memo, we can put it up on screen, and it went to all heads and acting heads of departments and agencies, shuttering DEI offices and other things. What is the union’s response going to be?

EVERETT KELLEY: Well, first of all, I think that we have an obligation to educate the public as to what DEI really is because, number one, it’s not affirmative action as some might think. DEI is about making sure that, say, a veteran may have a handicap, an injury from the services, and come to work for the federal government. DEI would make sure that that veteran has the, I guess, I would say the opportunity to work in a job, and they were placed in a position where they could accommodate that veteran and so that they can do their job. So, DEI is about that and about providing services for workers. It’s not about the color of a person’s skin.

REID: And it’s not a quota program. Let’s just be clear.

KELLEY: Absolutely.

REID: It means that you know not and it also I think for a lot of conservatives–

KELLEY: Okay.

REID: — they believe DEI just means black people getting jobs, and so when they see a black person in any job, they say, “Oh, that person’s a DEI hire.” They said it about the literal elected vice president of the United States.

KELLEY: Absolutely

REID: She wasn’t hired. She was hired by the American people. Eighty million Americans voted and voted for her, but they can’t see through her race and gender. So, it isn’t just about hiring black people and women, right?

KELLEY: That’s right.

REID: It’s about disabled veterans being accommodated. It’s veterans returning from wars are also under DEI.

KELLEY: Absolutely. And I see that as a veteran myself. Right. I see this initiative as a direct impact and attack on veterans. Of the 2.2 million federal workers, 642,000 of those are veterans, and so this is in my way of viewing this, is a direct attack against veterans as well. You know, the misunderstanding of what DEI really is. You know, it’s on us to really educate the public as to what it really is all about.

Additional Reading:

Christy, A. (2025, January 23). Joy Reid Thinks You’re Dumb, Says DEI Is About Helping ‘Disabled Veterans’. mrcNewsBusters. Link.

Category: Media, Society, Veterans in the news, Veterans Issues