A Deplorable attends the birth of DEI racism

In the late nineties, my boss sent me to an HR training conference. As I entered the elevator up to the conference room, a middle-aged black man and I acknowledged each other with a nod and a smile. We rode up alone and in silence. One of the first hourlong presentations was on race relations, and the man I’d shared the elevator with was the speaker. To my openmouthed astonishment, he began by talking about me. He said he’d ridden the elevator that morning with a white man, and that I hadn’t spoken to him because he was black and...