FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear condemned efforts to limit diversity, equity and inclusion practices at public universities after marching with other Kentuckians on Tuesday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of a landmark civil-rights rally that featured Martin Luther King Jr. in the state’s capital city.
“DEI is not a four-letter word,” Beshear said in his speech in front of the state Capitol. “DEI is a three-letter acronym for very important values that are found in our Bible. Diversity, equity and inclusion is about loving each other. It’s about living out the Golden Rule. … Diversity will always make us stronger. It is an asset and never a liability.”
Beshear walked at the head of the pack as throngs of people marched to Kentucky’s statehouse on a mild, overcast day. They retraced the steps of the civil rights icon and 10,000 others who joined the 1964 March on Frankfort to call for legislation to end discrimination and segregation in the Bluegrass State.
That march is credited with leading to passage of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act of 1966, which prohibited race-based discrimination in accommodations or employment.
Sixty years later, significant progress has been achieved in racial justice, but there’s more work to do and “a lot of harm to stop,” Beshear said, referring to legislation advancing in the state’s Republican-dominated legislature.
The governor drew cheers when he vowed to veto a measure, if it reaches his desk, that would limit diversity, equity and inclusion practices at Kentucky’s public universities. The legislation won Senate passage last month and is pending in the House. Debates revolving around similar rejections of DEI efforts are playing out in statehouses across the country.
Supporters of the Kentucky bill say it’s an effort to protect free speech and promote “intellectual diversity.” Its lead sponsor says it’s meant to counter a broader trend in higher education to deny campus jobs or promotions to…
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