Here’s how Ron DeSantis “celebrated” the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend: by whining about diversity efforts. In the NHL, the whitest of white sports. But don’t worry, he bullied them out of it! Via MSNBC:
DeSantis’ office was made aware of a diversity program the NHL runs to draw job talent from outside of its workforce, which is disproportionately white and male. DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said the upcoming Pathway to Hockey Summit, which is set to take place in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 2 during the NHL’s All-Star Game festivities, amounts to discrimination.
Why? Because in a LinkedIn post, the NHL marketed the event specifically to people who are women, veterans, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Latino, Indigenous, LGBTQ or disabled.
“Discrimination of any sort is not welcome in the state of Florida, and we do not abide by the woke notion that discrimination should be overlooked if applied in a politically popular manner or against a politically unpopular demographic,” Griffin said in a statement released Friday. He added: “We are fighting all discrimination in our schools and our workplaces, and we will fight it in publicly accessible places of meeting or activity.”
The NHL deleted its post from LinkedIn on Friday night, with a league spokesperson saying the Pathway to Hockey Summit is open to anyone 18 and older. The NHL has since published a new post about the event.
Last fall, the NHL released its first report on diversity and inclusion, which found that its workforce, excluding players, is about 84% white and more than 61% male. The report found that 93% of the NHL workforce identifies as straight or heterosexual, showing a severe lack of LGBTQ representation. But the response from DeSantis’ press secretary is reflective of the governor’s belief that efforts to thwart discrimination are, themselves, discriminatory.
There’s Ron, standing up for the rights of straight white men everywhere! Can he ride that wave to the White House?
