The main point isn’t that one of the DOGE Youth running rampant through federal government computer systems turned out to be a proud racist who promotes eugenics and promises to send natives of India back to their country after revoking their H1B visas.
“They’re going back. Don’t worry, guys.” — Marko Elez
I’m not concerned that Marko Elez couldn’t be paid enough to marry outside of his ethnicity. Parents of people of color are breathing a sigh of relief they won’t have to welcome Elez into their families.
“You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.” — Marko Elez
It’s worrisome that Elon Musk and all his DOGE Youth have been given special government employee status, allowing them to avoid security clearances and background checks. We might have known more about Elez’s racist comments and his fellow DOGE Youth like Edward Coristine (Big Balls). Coristine is a 19-year-old high school graduate who once worked alongside convicted hackers and advertised his services to conduct cyberattacks for hire.
But the main point is that racism has become très cool with a group that doesn’t care that you know it. They wear their racism like a badge of honor, knowing there is little anyone can do about it and those willing to try don’t matter. It has generally been accepted that each generation would be less racist than the one before, with the moral arc bending towards justice and all that. Not that racism was ever in remission, but the world is seeing a resurgence of outwardly racist groups. Racism has become cool and Marko Elez is but an example.
The best possible spin on the DOGE Youth is that they are adapting to the corporate environment fostered by their leader, Elon Musk, and their only client, Donald Trump. Musk has said that students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have lower IQs and shouldn’t become pilots. He somehow blamed the recruitment of Black pilots for the recent spate of aircraft crashes.
Musk’s company, Tesla, has fostered a workplace where bathroom walls contained swastikas and encouraged the death of Black people. Black workers were fired in retaliation within weeks of reporting harassment, according to a lawsuit filed.
“I saw KKK epithets, a swastika, and the N-word all over the bathroom," said one employee. "It was so gross and racist I don’t want to discuss it. It would say ‘kill black people,’ ‘kill N-words,’ ‘hang black people,’ ‘hang N-words.’”
DOGE’s only client has created a workplace where racism is welcome as well. His primary focus since taking office is to erase any vestige of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the government. Racism is nothing new for Trump; back in the 1970s, he twice reached a settlement agreement with the federal government after having rental applications from Black families marked with the letter “C” for colored so he could later reject them. He was sued twice because he ignored the things he’d agreed to change after the first lawsuit. Now, Trump controls the federal government and is immune to prosecution for his official actions.
Loud and proud racists have existed throughout history; this is not new. It also isn’t new that a majority of people claiming not to be racist stood by and did nothing. In the past, there have been enough people who saw something and did something. The moral arc was bending towards justice, often with Congress, the Supreme Court, and presidents taking the lead. It’s safe to say that none of those institutions are presently in the fight; in fact, they are undoing much of what has been done before. Racism was always cool in some circles, but now those circles are in charge. What can go wrong?
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.