DEI has it all backwards

John W. White, in his guest column “Censorship and complicity in Florida’s universities” (Nov. 23), wrote in support of social justice. But he totally avoids the subject of how DEI, introduced on college campuses and insisted upon during the past administration, trampled free expression of alternative ideas. People lost jobs due to using a wrong pronoun, professors who did not subscribe to the official mantra were dismissed, parents were arrested. Doesn’t that qualify as oppression of free speech?

There is more to education than adhering to DEI. Since I had lived under state-enforced censorship of all forms of free expression for several decades, I am against any kind of misguided one-sidedness in education.

White states that “education should be geared toward social justice,” to “rectify some of the injustices common in our world.”

Whose definition of social injustices? I strongly disagree with the author. In my opinion, education is about teaching rational, open-minded thinking, examining one’s own as well as the others’ opinions and biases (including about DEI), being able to express them in a civil and nonviolent setting.

Barbara Anderson Winter Park

DEI promotes most diverse, best options

I could not agree more with a Sunday letter writer’s advocacy of meritocracy as the guiding principle in hiring decisions (“Decisions on merit, not DEI”). Of course we want the most qualified pilots, surgeons, Cabinet members and teachers handling skilled tasks across all levels of society. But he has fallen for the myth that DEI programs are designed to elevate the lesser-qualified candidate because of their race or gender. He has it backwards. As a former corporate executive, I participated in several DEI programs and I can assure you that their purpose was precisely the opposite. They taught us to recognize that we are a diverse  society and that we should include everyone equally when evaluating candidates.

DEI never was and never will be “the principal factor” in those decisions. DEI programs are designed to ensure that we hire the best secretary of defense, FBI director or CDC director instead of underqualified or wholly unqualified friends or cronies. Or that a woman might actually be the better pilot or sharpshooter. Or that she might even be the best chief of police of the NYPD. By all means, yes to meritocracy but based on a diverse and inclusive field of equally qualified candidates.

Tony Macchia Maitland

Senators must protect affordable health care

I lost my father to a rare and aggressive cancer in 2023. Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to cancer advocacy and I’ve seen how critical affordable health care is for patients. Access to comprehensive, affordable health insurance can mean the difference between life and death. My father had a fighting chance because of his coverage.

Florida has more people enrolled in Marketplace insurance than any other state: 4.7 million. Nearly 2 million Floridians work in hospitality and tourism, one of our state’s largest economic drivers. For over a decade, I was one of them, creating magic for visitors.

Many in this industry lack access to employer-sponsored coverage, due to part-time and seasonal roles. Health insurance through the Marketplace bridges the gap during layoffs, life changes, and the economic uncertainty so many of us face. But many rely on tax credits to make premiums affordable. If the enhanced tax credits expire at the end of the year, countless Floridians, some in active cancer treatment, will fall into the coverage gap.

I personally know what this means for cancer patients and for the survivors I advocate for, some who have become close friends through my work. We cannot let this happen. It is no longer hypothetical. Floridians are seeing their Marketplace premiums skyrocket, and they are losing their only affordable option for health insurance. I’m urging Senator Moody to work with her fellow members of Congress to extend these tax credits before it’s too late.

Dani Hornstein Orlando

Dani Hornstein is a volunteer with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

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