Does DEI Ever End?

Michael Obasohan is Pittsfield's chief diversity officer. He is a gay Black man running the city's diversity, equity, and inclusion office in a city that is mostly white. The job has been debated since the office opened in 2021. Some people say the city needs it. Others say it is money that could go somewhere else. His salary is $90,000 a year. The city council recently objected to a name change from "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" to "Equity, Access, and Opportunity". We sat down for about 45 minutes and talked about what DEI actually is, whether the position is necessary, the narratives around it, and what the work looks like here. This is the full conversation.

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