Hillsdale College’s Blake Center for Faith and Freedom Hosts Lecture on DEI
Khalil Habib, associate professor of politics, spoke on ‘DEI vs. Meritocracy.’
HILLSDALE, Mich. — Hillsdale College’s Blake Center for Faith and Freedom in Somers, Connecticut, hosted Khalil Habib, associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College, on Oct. 24 for a lecture titled “DEI vs. Meritocracy.”
“America was founded on principles of civil and religious liberty and equal natural rights,” said Alan Crippen, executive director and chaplain of the Blake Center. “Yet some argue that wokeness goes back to the individualism of America’s founding. Dr. Habib explained its true origin as an attempt to resurrect Karl Marx’s failed economic theory.”
“The shift is from working class as revolutionary subject to marginalized identity groups.”
Habib said that Marx’s theory failed when workers embraced capitalism rather than overthrowing it, prompting Marxists to change strategies.
“So here’s the problem,” Habib said. “If the working class is no longer revolutionary because they’ve internalized Christianity, they’ve internalized capitalism, they’ve internalized the idea of consent, they’re far gone. Better to reach those who haven’t been contaminated by it, those who have yet to be integrated: racial minorities, students, the culturally marginalized.”
Habib said this is the logic behind “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
“The shift is from working class as revolutionary subject to marginalized identity groups,” Habib said. “Now here’s the danger of that. It’s unconstitutional. Why? Because the Constitution is founded on individual rights, not group rights. Individual rights are what we all have in common. Group rights are by definition in a group. They’re exclusionary. You can’t have a country or a society built on tribalism. I don’t care if it’s a religious tribalism or invented categories of intersectionality.”
“You can’t have a country or a society built on tribalism. I don’t care if it’s a religious tribalism or invented categories of intersectionality.”
Habib said that in this shift, modern Marxists have alienated workers and aligned with rich corporations.
“Woke capitalism is possible precisely because cultural progressivism doesn’t require economic redistribution,” Habib said. “While attention focuses on pronouns, representation, and microaggressions, wealth concentration has reached golden-age levels. Isn’t that interesting? They’ve aligned with the wealthiest people in the world.”
Dr. Khalil Habib is associate professor of politics and Allison and Dorothy Rouse Professor of Politics at Hillsdale College, where he has taught since 2018. He teaches political philosophy and American political thought and has co-edited two books, “The Soul of Statesmanship: Shakespeare on Nature, Virtue, and Political Wisdom” and “Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Globalization: Citizens Without States.” He received his B.A. from the University of Maine, his M.A. from the University of Toronto, and his Ph.D. from Boston University.
For photos from the event, click here. For photos of the Blake Center, click here. For a high-resolution copy of the Hillsdale College clocktower logo, click here.
About the Blake Center for Faith and Freedom
Philanthropists Prestley and Helen Blake donated the buildings and acreage of their estate in Somers, Connecticut, to Hillsdale College in 2019. The Blake Center for Faith and Freedom is a religious institution that includes an exterior replica of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s renowned neo-classical home in Virginia. The College utilizes the property to host events that further its mission, focusing on the foundational principles of faith and freedom. To this end, most events held at the Blake Center have clear religious themes, focusing on topics relating to Christianity, man’s relationship to God, and faith generally.