We all know that Trump hates diversity. On March 18 2025 President Trump announced: “We will terminate every diversity, equity, and inclusion program across the entire federal government.” According to the New York Times, Trump has ordered the removal of the following words from public-facing websites, or ordered the elimination of other materials (including school curricula) in which they might be included:
- diverse
- diverse backgrounds
- diverse communities
- diverse community
- diverse group
- diverse groups
- diversified
- diversify
- diversifying
- diversity
- enhance the diversity
- enhancing diversity
Trump wants to eliminate diversity so that everybody will fit into neat little boxes which he can then control. But life isn’t like that. Life IS Diversity. And to fight Trump’s fascism, we need to actively fight back by promoting diversity of all kinds, including: racial diversity, ethnic diversity, religious diversity, gender diversity, biodiversity, cultural diversity, linguistic diversity, sexual orientation diversity, age diversity, and neurodiversity.
Over the past two decades, I’ve been working on promoting this last form of diversity: neurodiversity. This is the idea that differences in brains are to be celebrated just as we need to honor and respect biodiversity, cultural diversity, and all the other diversities. We don’t say that a calla lily has ”petal deficit disorder.” We celebrate its uniqueness for what it gives the world. Similarly, we should be celebrating individuals diagnosed with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Down syndrome, and other brain differences for the strengths they give and the gifts they offer to society. People with autism are good at working with details and systems. Those with ADHD are novelty-seekers and physical learners. Dyslexics are big picture thinkers and great at ferreting out codes and patterns in things. People with Down syndrome are warm-hearted, giving, dramatic, and effervescent. We need these diversities in our culture, and Trump wants to stamp them out! On this day of May Day protests, let’s just say no to this kind of narrow-minded mentality and say yes to all the many ways in which people express their differences!
For more on neurodiversity, see my upcoming revised and expanded edition of The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Neurodivergent Brain!
Pre-order through Amazon (publication date: July 29, 2025)
