Diversity is what our beloved global dance scene has been built upon. House music was literally born out of Black and Latino LGBTQ+ spaces in Chicago, while most sub-genres of electronic music (jungle/drum & bass, techno, garage, etc.) also stem significantly from Black origin. It’s the mixture of all manner of people of all different colours and creeds that makes our international scene so beautiful.
So it’s scandalous when there are backward steps taken against increasing diversity and equality in the world. Diktats emanating from the new administration in America are the current worst offenders: a teacher in Idaho is told to take down a sign from her classroom wall that said ‘Everyone is welcome here’ above hands of different skin tones; a Black soldier who was awarded the Medal Of Honour is removed from a US Department of Defence website; the president overturns an executive order from 1965 that banned segregated facilities. And that’s not to even mention any of the attacks on trans people that the Trump regime has already initiated.
DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies help ensure that historically marginalised groups are considered for jobs and promotions on equal grounds, in order to foster inclusive workplace environments. These retrograde steps by the US government are all part of a drive to remove DEI initiatives from American society. Trump has called DEI efforts “illegal and immoral discrimination programmes”, demanding that all governmental DEI programmes be shut down. In his first month in office Trump blamed “DEI hires” for a plane crash and the wildfires in LA. Almost every day, it seems, a new outrage emanates from the president’s camp.
Diversity, equality and anti-racism are at the heart of dance music culture. ‘In our house, we are all equal’ is one of the core PLUR tenets our scene was founded upon. At DJ Mag we will always celebrate artists and industry folk from whatever race, gender, sexuality and social class. Anti-DEI rhetoric is the new, barely disguised way of expressing anti-Black racism, and it must be resisted. Racism and other forms of discrimination have no place in our scene.
Carl Loben
Editor