Former Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” celebrity Mark Cuban waded into a lengthy debate about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in an exchange on X that left the entrepreneur calling ” racist”.
It started when Cuban published an article over the weekend of NBC news titled: “How Right-Wing Influencers Turned Airplanes and Airports into Culture War Battlegrounds.”
“The conservative media ecosystem is banking on Americans' fascination with air travel to drum up opposition to corporate diversity programs, an effort that may heighten the salience of culture war issues at the start of the election year of 2024, even though their claims are largely based on false or misleading information,” wrote NBC's David Ingram.
“IYKYK,” Cuban wrote, using the “cool guy” shorthand for “if you know, you know.”
LOOK AThttps://t.co/95ZM4zsaL5
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 28, 2024
A popular account that goes by the word “The Rabbit Hole” (TRH) responded by calling Cuban's story of “weak” DEI defenses.
“When shown proof of how DEI discriminates, you overruled it by claiming that private entities can do whatever they want,” TRH noted. “Since then, the poles have been changed repeatedly. Given the weak nature of your DEI defenses, I suspect there is no real rebuttal to the criticisms myself and others have raised. The only hope is to keep moving the goalposts and pretend the evidence doesn't exist. The alternative would be to be brave enough to admit that you are wrong; while that would do a lot of good, it seems you haven't reached that destination yet.”
When shown proof of how DEI discriminates, you overruled it by stating that private entities can do whatever they want. Since then, the poles have been changed repeatedly.
Given the weak nature of your DEI defenses, I suspect there is no real rebuttal to the criticisms… pic.twitter.com/VvIcCZ5ZuN
— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) January 28, 2024
For the next few hours, the two went back and forth.
“Should the selection of candidates, at any level, consider non-merit-based criteria such as race and sex?” TRH asked.
Cuban argued that DEI does not necessarily mean that hiring is not based on merit.
“When you show companies that want to increase the number of minorities applying for jobs by 20, 50, 27,000,000 percent, you pick any number, it's not a hiring quota,” he said. “It's a goal to broaden the diversity of applicants, which may or may not lead to more hiring of minorities.”
“Is it possible that if the pool of diverse candidates increases and more minorities are hired than non-minorities, it's possible that those minorities are MORE qualified for those positions and the company is a better company for hiring the more qualified candidates who are minorities? ? ” he asked.
“My argument is that minorities cannot be more skilled – several Asian groups, for example, have achieved greater levels of success in the West than the white majority (see second image attached),” TRH replied. “My argument has been, and still is, that demographics should not be a factor.”
“I don't want white people to benefit from demographic privilege and I don't want minorities to benefit from demographic privilege,” he said. “Color-blind meritocracy should be the goal.”
“When you say candidate selection, do you mean the actual hiring or the creation of the applicant pool?”
Both: My argument is that demographics should not be a consideration. If the goal is to help the disadvantaged, then help the disadvantaged *regardless* of demographics.
“OMG,… pic.twitter.com/IqVFSvy2ik
— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) January 28, 2024
“You see the DEI programs as a 'trigger' of what you mistakenly believe are quotas,” Cuban shot back. “How would you identify companies that give preference to white candidates when they do [sic] come to recruit and hire?”
“The insanity of these arguments is that you are trying to disassociate a demographic-based ideology (DEI) from the demographic-based policies it inevitably ends up enacting,” TRH responded.
“While we accept your euphemism of 'broadening the candidate pool' as legitimate, making it based on demographics is discriminatory,” the account argued.
The insanity of these arguments is that you are trying to disassociate a demographics-based ideology (DEI) from the demographics-based policies it inevitably ends up enacting.
From the article you shared earlier in this thread:
– “Make non-discrimination a basic component of… pic.twitter.com/oJMQvxxxSR— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) January 28, 2024
Cuban dismissed The Rabbit Hole's responses as “word salad.”
“Do you lack self-awareness?” TRH asked. “The whole DEI debate has been stick moving and semantic games on your part. As I said earlier, you don't have a good response to our criticisms of DEI, so you're hopeless at this point.”
“A lot of word salad on your part and no answers to the questions”
Do you lack self-awareness? The whole DEI debate has been stick moving and semantic games on your part. As I said before, you don't have a good response to our criticisms of DEI, so you are desperately… pic.twitter.com/sNEwZHfRlq
— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) January 28, 2024
“Here it is,” Cuban replied. “Not answering the questions.”
“Trust me,” TRH replied. “The feeling is mutual.”
Trust me. The feeling is mutual.
My attached tweet took your previous response paragraph by paragraph and tried to address it directly.
Please list the questions I haven't answered and I will try. Thanks. https://t.co/gDbBS7tb9I
— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) January 28, 2024
“Have you hired people based on demographics in the belief that doing so better positioned your companies for success?” TRH finally asked.
“I have never hired anyone based on race, gender, religion,” Cuban responded. “I only hire the person who will put my business in the best position to succeed.”
“And yes”, he added, “race and gender can be part of the equation. I see diversity as a competitive advantage.”
“Now, how would you propose to find organizations that give preference to whites?” he asked. “Why aren't you working as hard to show examples of white supremacy as you DEI? You say you hate both of them.”
In a moment of microphone drop, TRH responded: “Thank you for your transparency. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
“And yes, race and gender can be part of the equation.”
Thank you for your transparency.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) January 28, 2024
By then, many in X had made up their minds: Mark Cuban is a “racist.”
“So you're racist?” asked Australian Sky News reporter Rita Panahi. “Weird flex.”
So you're racist? strange bending
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) January 29, 2024
“Your definition of 'diversity' is a disproportionate amount of minorities, therefore less opportunity for white people,” another user told Cuban. “What is racism…against white people.”
“You're not an idiot. You know that,” the user said. “The only question is who paid you to protest so much?”
Your definition of “diversity” is a disproportionate amount of minorities, therefore fewer opportunities for whites.
What is racism…against white people.
You're not an idiot. you know this The only question is who paid you to protest so much?
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) January 29, 2024
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