There is a particular kind of lie that America tells itself, a lie dressed in fine garments, made to seem new when, in fact, it is older than the republic itself. It is the lie of blame, the lie that says our suffering is not of our own making but the fault of the weakest among us. It is the lie that calls justice a burden and equity a sin.
When the plane fell from the sky over Washington International Airport, there was no time for mourning. Before the bodies were counted, before the grieving had even begun, the machine of power had already chosen its scapegoat. President Trump, flanked by men who mistake cruelty for strength, declared the crash was the fault of diversity, equity, and inclusion. "DEI," he sneered, as if the letters themselves had forced the aircraft down.
Scapegoating
This is how it has always been. The plantation burned, and they blamed the enslaved. The economy collapsed, and they blamed the immigrants. The cities swelled with protest, and they blamed the agitators, never the system that set the fire in the first place. Now, in the twenty-first century, the old lie wears a new suit, but the face beneath it remains the same.
The truth, of course, is simpler and more damning. The airline industry has long been stretched thin, safety regulations weakened in the name of profit, oversight reduced to whispers in a boardroom. The warnings had been there—overworked air traffic controllers, outdated equipment, budget cuts disguised as efficiency. But responsibility is a weight too heavy for those accustomed to power without consequence. And so, the blame is sent elsewhere, to the easiest target, to those who cannot afford to defend themselves.
The media, those institutions sworn to bear witness, should have torn this lie apart, should have held the administration accountable. But instead, they stood at a distance, murmuring their questions softly, as if afraid of the answers. Worse still, they have, in recent months, bent their knee. Major networks, once bold enough to challenge falsehoods, now quietly settle lawsuits with the very man who seeks to silence them.
The First Amendment was meant to be a shield against tyranny, but what good is a shield if it is laid at the feet of the king? The press, in its hunger for access, in its fear of retribution, has made itself an accomplice. It has allowed the conversation to shift from accountability to accusation, from what is true to what is convenient.
And so we find ourselves here, once more, in a familiar place, watching as power points its finger downward. The real question is not whether DEI is to blame—it is not, it never was—but whether we will allow this moment to pass in silence.
America, if it is to be the nation it claims to be, must finally recognise the game being played at its expense. The people must refuse to be distracted by the glittering falsehoods thrown before them. They must demand the truth, not the convenient fiction.
For the lie will not stop with DEI. The target will change, the names will shift, but the function will remain the same. Until we learn to reject it, we will always be at its mercy.
Want to learn more? My sources are your sources (except for the confidential ones): The Times, WSJ, Guardian, NYMag, Semafor, Daily Beast, Business Insider, CNN, AP, CBS, Mcclellan House, BBC, NDM
