C'est la GARE
Congress Must Defund Non-Governmental Netherfog Equitists GARE
It’s called GARE- the Government Alliance on Race and Equity – and more than 400 local cities and counties and other agencies are members.
What if Congress said no more and passed a bill that stated that any member of GARE is not eligible for any federal money?
That would be wonderful, considering GARE intentionally and programmatically – systemically, if you will – interferes in local elections, local opinion shaping, and local governance.
GARE is a monstrous fog – it consists of about 400 agencies scattered across the country, and offers training sessions, infographics, talking points to push “equity,” how to manipulate elections, etc. - straight out of a Stephen King novel – sure he won’t like that reference – that is aggressively working to keep as many local DEI programs in place.
By the way, the effort is intentionally and specifically in opposition to the administration’s efforts, which, of course, one can oppose but not with tax dollars.
Of course, it would be too mean to mention that that is where their funding comes from, but it would not be too mean to state they have been manipulating your city council members, your school board members, your county electeds and everyone in between to make them see their equity light.
This item is a direct call for Congress and the Trump administration – if they are serious about ending the malignancy that is DEI – to defund any local agency that agrees to be part of this underhanded, anti-democratic scam.
As we all know, government bills and actions include a series of “Whereas…” paragraphs to justify the actual law. While with GARE there are too many to list here, there is one very specific “whereas” that would completely and legally justify the de-funding of any local agency involved in the group.
“Whereas GARE – in its own words – has been shown to be an organization intent on manipulating elections, Congress can see no other option than to refuse to fund any jurisdiction that is a member of the anti-democracy group.”
It can, obviously, go on from there, but to justify that particular “whereas,” how about this, from the GARE’s local government communication guide (which you cannot find on the group’s website anymore.):
“The objective of this report is to show that we can and should talk about race explicitly
in order to move people’s hearts and minds to support progressive fiscal policies,” that “progressive messages about health care reform and subprime lending that addressed race prevailed over conservative messages that avoided it, and that “part of a collective movement to change people’s attitudes and behaviors so that we can garner support for progressive policy.”
Also from GARE’s “Communications Guide” for its member government agencies regarding elections:
“Our end goal is institutionalizing sustainable practices within our government toward more equitable outcomes and engaging the public to support their priorities around racial equity But, the natural ebb and flow of elected offices and politics will create more urgency, opportunity and challenges during some periods of our work. Here are some best practices for planning for these shifts — they are all inevitable.
If your racial equity initiative has been an executive priority, and not fully institutionalized, introducing legislation prior to an election to formalize your jurisdiction’s commitment can be a useful and strategic step. GARE can provide templates for such legislation that you can customize to your local conditions.
The guide also suggests that local governments use an “Affirm, Counter, Transform (ACT)” communications strategy to change residents’ political opinions. Here’s an example of ACT at work:
MYTH: Racism will end when individual people stop being racist.
FACT: Structural racism drives inequities in our communities despite the good intentions of individual people. We can have entire organizations made up of well-intentioned people who are operating within an institution and system that is perpetuating racial inequities. We must dismantle structural racism to achieve equitable outcomes.
SAMPLE A.C.T. RESPONSE:
Affirm: The personal is political, and identifying our own actions and inactions as individuals is critically important in racial equity work.
Counter: While individual acts of racism are destructive, fixing them will never be enough — structural change drives individual change much more quickly than the other way around.
Transform: As individuals, we all need to step up and be accountable for our own roles in ongoing issues of race. But our effort will yield the best results if we focus our interventions on institutional and structural change.
From a previous piece on GARE:
The guide encourages the creation of “shared stories” and community commonalities, disparages the concept of a “meritocracy,” notes that jurisdictions should get the press on board, advises that if a city cannot “convert skeptics into allies” it could at least “dissuade active resisters,” helpfully adding – very disturbingly – that an agency “doesn’t need everyone” to agree to move a given policy and that “30 percent” public support is more than enough to reach a goal.
A key part of the guide is the idea of the “A-Ha!” moment, when a member of the public finally becomes aware that “Government created and continues to perpetuate racial inequity. We must transform government to advance racial equity.”
Once that plateau is reached, public compliance follows.
Just to emphasize that statement:
“Compliance follows.”
GARE hosts conferences and calls and such attended by thousands of local officials - almost all staff members and contractors (GARE has a list of 13,000 consultants you can reach out to for equity help) each year. Everyone knows that staff is always a bit political, but there are some pretty clear lines around the country delineating staff from electeds and GARE is clearly crossing them.
There are countless other examples of the group’s absurdity, bordering on illegality, but because the internet is not big enough to hold all of them here are just a few:
First, being irked at Trump, whom they euphemize as “political disruption,”
Second, and of course, one must protect “democratic discourse” to combat (non-existent) divisive “misinformation and disinformation” by:
Assembl(ing) a Democratic Discourse team to effectively manage internal and external messaging campaigns.
Ensure the Democratic Discourse team works with experts and emerging research for debunking strategies.
Train jurisdiction staff on tiers of proactive and responsive debunking strategies for digital and interpersonal use.
The absurdities continue from there: later this month, GARE is hosting a conference on “Building Racial Equity,” and they remain partnered with RaceForward, (one of the more desperate and, to be blunt, absurd members of the equity oligarchy,) and the “Othering and Belonging Institute” (OBI) at University of California, Berkeley (of course) for help.
Note - this is how the OBI describes itself:
“The Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley advances groundbreaking research, policy, and ideas that examine and remediate the processes of exclusion, marginalization, and structural inequality—what we call othering—in order to build a world based on inclusion, fairness, justice, and care for the earth—what we call belonging…Belonging, as OBI defines it, means having a meaningful voice and the opportunity to participate in the design of political, social, and cultural structures that shape one’s life — the right to both contribute and make demands upon society and political institutions. At its core, structural belonging holds a radically inclusive vision because it requires mutual power, access, and opportunity among all groups and individuals within a shared container (such as a society, organization, club, etc.)”
And, of course, they are very worried about Donald Trump but they think that since they are centered and networked practitioners who act collectively (and tell everyone their pronouns) they might be able to ride it out.
And if you are wondering if your city or county of school board or what have you is a member, check out this only barely helpful map
Note - like a few other website pages, the simple list seems to have disappeared of late – three guesses why.
There has been much other activity in “this space” since the election of Donald Trump but the elimination of GARE cannot be forgotten.
GARE is made up of the foot soldiers, the make work cubicle dweller - the most virulent because their job depends upon on an inherent absurdity like the concept of DEI – and grifty manipulators that came together over the past few years to foist the nightmare on the nation.
GARE may not be very well known, but its shifty, sleazy, self-interested impact has been enormous – and that impact has been almost entirely funded by tax dollars.
And that’s why Congress and the administration must act and make GARE gone.
That, and you can’t spell deceive without DEI.