President Donald Trump has made it clear that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has no place in American life and that he will dismantle it forthwith. He has said that it is a liberal ideal at odds with the new direction America is going in.

People of colour and a different sexual persuasion can no longer count on their distinction to land a job or be looked upon favourably. It is all about a merit-based America.

This has sent a frisson of anxiety among many black people in America, more so black women. Preferential treatment is now over and the dismantling of DEI is a major part of the Trump agenda with him already issuing an Executive Order.

Today President Donald Trump announced that DEI had a part to play in the crash of an American Airlines regional plane carrying 64 people into a Black Hawk aircraft carrying 3 military service members over the Potomac River in Washington D.C. while on final approach to Reagan National Airport last night at around 9.00pm.

Part of President Trump’s speech read: “A group within the FAA determined that the workforce was too white, that they had concerted efforts to get the administration to change that and to change it immediately. This was in the Obama administration just prior to my getting there. We took care of African Americans, Hispanic Americans. We took care of everybody at levels that nobody’s ever seen before. It’s one of the reasons I won.

“But they actually came out with a directive-too white! We want people who are competent.”

The President then goes on to say that only the highest standards will do for those who work in America’s aviation system. He noted that he changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary.

Here he said: ‘Only those with the highest aptitude, you have to have the highest intellect and be psychologically superior to qualify to become an air traffic controller and this was not so prior to when I arrived in 2016. I made that change very early on because I always felt this was a job that, and other jobs too- but this was a job that required superior intelligence. We didn’t really have that and we had it.

“And then when I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. I put safety first, Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen because this was the lowest level. Their policy was horrible and their politics was even worse. My administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety. We have to have the smartest people. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are-what matters is intellect and talent. You can’t have regular people doing that job. They won’t be able to do it. We will restore faith in American air travel.”

The President bemoaned that the FAA placed too much emphasis on DEI at the expense of competence and intellectual ability. He said it chose to hire a bunch of misfits

He continued: “The FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing. The FAA then says people with severe disabilities are the most underrepresented segment of the workforce and they want them in and they can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so. This was on January 14th, a week before I entered office.

“They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program and then another article before I entered office-The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.”