The daytime talk show The View, airing weekdays at 11/10c on ABC. We’re on a temporary hiatus now, but stay tuned for brand new episodes coming back next week! The program features a panel of co-hosts who engage in discussions and debates on a wide array of topics, including politics and social issues. Recently, co-host Sunny Hostin expressed her discontent with comments made by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Just last week, The View showed this clip of Buttigieg’s remarks. These observations were made at the Future of the Democratic Party forum that took place on February 18 in the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. In that short clip, Buttigieg posed an incendiary question. He questioned whether DEI trainings and programs are focused on the relevant, diverse lived experiences of people, or instead if they just pass distracting, ineffective DEI trainings that miss the mark entirely.
Buttigieg stated, “Is it caring for people’s different experiences and making sure no one is mistreated because of them, which I will always fight for? Or is it making people sit through a training that looks like something out of Portlandia, which I have experienced?” He noted that a lot of this training may unintentionally create the conditions that give rise to new versions of “Trump Republicans.”
Hostin had an incisive reply to Buttigieg on this point, highlighting that true commitment to DEI work means actually understanding the work and engaging with it. She remarked, “I like Pete, of course. But I think he got that so wrong and it was so tone-deaf, considering what’s going on.”
She elaborated on the historical context surrounding DEI issues, stating, “What happens is, when from 1776 to 1965 you have basically white men in charge of everything, right? Women, people of color, we’re left out of just, equality.” Hostin’s comments make clear her understanding of the need for deeper discussion beyond the lip service often given in the name of diversity and inclusion.
The View is still an essential stop on the road to recognizing and addressing urgent social and political issues. It hasn’t been murdered and remains a column of sharp wit and deep discussion at odds with many of its co-hosts. The return of the show next week is one of the most eagerly awaited by its audience in memory.
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