Honestly, diversity training is telling the wrong people to change their attitudes.

DEI isn't about diversity, it's about control

Wow! This guy makes me believe again that common sense is not dead in the USA. What a balanced clear-headed man. We need more voices like that.

I work at a university. I am slim, I eat healthy and like to work out. There is a colleague that is very overweight. One day I. Ame out of my office and said I was going to lunch and I’d ve back in half an hour. She asked me how I maintained my weight and if I had any tips. On the table she had a Panera bag and I didn’t know what was in it, but I used it as an example and said: well, if for example I go to Panera, I choose a salad. She denounced me for fat shaming and discrimination and I had to sit 4 hours in a diversity and kindness course. Now I interact as minimum as possible with everyone, I am afraid of saying anything. That’s the society we are building.

As a black woman, this is shocking. This is blatant racism. I can honestly count on one hand the number of racist incidents I have faced. The truth is that most people are decent, regardless of ethnicity.

"Racism is not dead, but it is on life support -- kept alive by politicians, race hustlers and people who get a sense of superiority by denouncing others as 'racists' " - Thomas Sowell

I observed this behavior on my daughter’s college campus, it’s brainwashing and horseshit. I am glad I taught her better…

Oh my goodness, thank you!! As international student at a time that was exactly what I thought - this mentality is just keeping people away from interacting with each other and perpetuates segregation. The very first day I was at school we had this training and when we broke into groups, a black women in front of me looked me in the eye and unleashed in anger all the grievances she has with whites. The irony was - she had no idea I am from another country and was really not the address, my English was still weak and I could not even understand part of what she was saying. It was classic racism - when one assumes they know things about you just based on the color of your skin.

As a black person working in a very competitive profession, these training sessions are hilarious and cause more harm than good regarding race relations.

"It is in the best interest of racists to PERPETUATE RACISM. That's how they make their money." Never a more accurate statement have I heard.

Wow this man is a breath of fresh air . I am so grateful for his honesty. Before DEI I use to just walk up to anyone and talk. I was always warm, accepting and friendly. Now I hesitate and am guarded as I am not sure how I will be perceived or accepted or even if I will be accused of being racist. So now it is easier to ignore or avoid people of colour. I know it is wrong but perhaps a natural reaction to DEI. I was a volunteer in an orphanage in Haiti for 2 years . The children taught me Creole and I talk them English. I loved speaking their language and they loved speaking English to me.

This man is out next generation of the great Thomas Sowell. We NEED people like this to center us back to reality and common sense!❤

I am white , with two parents. We didn’t have money, and they didn’t encourage me to go to college. I just took the “privilege walk” test. I ended up a step behind the start line !!! It really has to do more w/ money and power than the color of your skin. People with money have privilege and that is ok with me. I am happy I grew up with not a lot of money. It made me appreciate what God has given me and made me work hard!

I work in DEI in a very specific industry. I got in it thinking I’d be building equity and helping people. All we are doing is boasting to clients and public about our numbers of “diverse people” but do nothing for them. Nothing to empower them. We pay people thousands per hour to come and convince people how oppressed they are. We only allow liberal, oppressed perspectives. I’m black and leaned left but after years in DEI and seeing it’s performative, ingenuine nature, I’m feeling myself lean conservative. People who know me would never accept that. I’m a black woman and everyone expects me to be constantly in pain and trauma. I don’t want this for myself anymore. I am powerful and resilient not a perpetual victim

I worked a full time job and went to college nights for five years and raised two boys and made a house payment and maintained a 3.85 gpa , and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Beta Gamma, Who's Who in American Colleges, and the Dean's list for 8 semesters! I did not qualify for black, and women's only racist scholarships. I did not have white privilege and worked my ass off! How dare these people claim that people like myself had privilege. When I graduated, there was not a single black person walking the line in those days. There were many that started and dropped out on the taxpayer dollar. They self segregated in the halls, lunchroom and classrooms. They claimed black privilege even in those days! One person showed up a month after class started and claimed the white professor was racist when she told him he could not complete the course because he had missed to many classes!

What an intelligent man. My hope and prayer is that we get more people to speak out and to put us back on the right path in all areas of our society.

My employer hired a DEI director and we all had to attend ridiculous meetings and watch nonsensical videos. Then we're quizzed to make sure we're compliant in all the ridiculousness. I made the mistake of questioning some of it, and my punishment was that I was assigned for an 'Enlightenment Journey'. This is where they single you out and ramp up the indoctrination until you break and just start telling them anything they want to hear, which is exactly what I did. All this has done is made me not speak to any of my coworkers unless I have to, because I have no clue what is offensive any more. My 'whiteness' is problematic, and applies to everything I do or say because I'm white. If another employee where to say that my whiteness was making them uncomfortable, I would have to clock out and leave and lose pay. Even other white people can make this complaint about whiteness making them uncomfortable. It's just code for someone not being compliant to the new ever-changing rules. But it's easy to not talk to anyone because no one talks to me anyways. I'm openly gay, and I'm pretty sure people are afraid to speak to me lest they make a mistake and I play the gay card and have them punished. All this Orwellian garbage has done is create problems where there were none. It's evil, and I'm convinced it is meant to divide us.

As a black man thank you sir for speaking common freaking sense!! Thank God we some semblance of hope that this stupidity won’t last forever

In a DEI training session we were asked to discuss instances of racism we have experienced. I spoke of (1972) African Americans running me off the playground because I was white. This was quickly ignored because African Americans are not capable of racism in the DEI world.

He is so well spoken. And putting ideas in words to better understand is what a real conversation looks like.

My mom was a Mexican immigrant. My dad was white. I was a welfare baby who grew up in abject poverty in the projects. Every success in my life has been a fight. I don't blame anyone for that. Eric is 100% right...accomplishment is not privilege. In fact, I think the hardships of my childhood made me a stronger, better man than if I had everything handed to me.

*Having the balls to speak out despite it going against the Left's narrative is the definition of stunning & brave*

I applaud this gentleman as he speaks the real truth.

It's wonderful to hear a voice of reason in all of this madness.

I work in a large inner city hospital. We are going through this training now. They have created a department with many high paid "instructors". The training is a year long. They keep asking us if we have "spread the word". Yesterday the class told us the GI bill was racist. Evidently the people who went to war for our country are racist and do not deserve any benefits. It's disgusting. The millions we have spent on this training in the hospital could have been used to pay medical bills or supply more health care. It's bad.

“If you wanted to hold down a group of people without them knowing it, this woke thing is a good strategy.” Hit the nail on the head with that statement.

Erec is so right. Where I work the effect of DEI on black people was: (a) No one wanted to talk to them; they ended up in their own clique; (b) Some were promoted into DEI activities, which sound good because it’s a promotion, but it’s a dead-end promotion and some of them didn’t want to do it but felt they couldn’t refuse; (c) Definite increase in resentment - when anyone of color gets promoted everyone assumes it’s for diversity reasons even if it’s not. Senior execs don’t view black employees in the same light as others. In particular, the ones in elevated positions are important for quotas and visibility, but they shouldn’t be given any important responsibilities. They’re figureheads.

Can't believe this is 6 months old and I haven't seen it. Very compelling.

I worked at a VERY woke company where they had forced diversity classes. They taught us that basically EVERYTHING is racist. By the end of the 3 day "training" (Yes, we had to sit through 3 days of this) we were all texting each other in a group chat the most racist jokes we had ever heard. There were 4 or 5 different races in the group chat, and the most racist jokes came from the people from that particular race that the joke was about. It was so fun and sorely needed just to take back some of our autonomy after being treated like toddlers for 3 days. The best part was at the end when we were discussing micro agressions. We raised our hands and said the most racist jokes from the group chat and asked if that was a micro agression. The presenter nearly choked. After about 6 of the most racist jokes I have ever heard, she shut down the whole training and let us all go home early. Should have done that sooner.

"The last thing you need is logic and reason when you are trying to tear things down." Erec Smith

The professor is a very respectable person. I respect him for his knowledge, pursuit of truth, bravery, calm manner and eloquence. As an asian immigrant, I feel that US has been hijacked by the extreme leftists who have been perpetuating hatred. I wish more and more people see the insanity and bigotry in the DEI movement.

"It's creating more chaos." Thank you!!

This man is brilliant. As a teacher and a black man, he is the perfect person to speak against this evil.

"If you wanted to hold down a group of people without them knowing, this woke thing is a good strategy". That just... hit.

Accomplishments versus Privileges… I love this -

Very refreshing to hear. Numerous people of varying ethnicities have confessed to me that they feel uncomfortable communicating with people of other races about things beyond the weather and yesterday’s football game for fear of offending them somehow. I once had to check myself when after hearing an interview with a brilliant black professor who I was about to refer as being incredibly“articulate”. He was and I meant it strongly - but I felt I couldn’t describe him as such, lest it be deemed a racist comment. I know many people who grew up as strong liberal advocates for equality, yet now feel marginalized and forced to move to the right because their ideas of advancing equality are somehow part of the problem. Not progressive enough. It’s amazing that this movement sees groups such as Jews and Asians as inherently privileged (and therefore on the oppressor camp) despite that their history in this country having been fraught with being oppressed, denied and excluded. They seem to feel that these groups - minorities themselves - whose work ethic, perseverance and commitment to success against all adversity should serve as an example to emulate, is a threat to their own victim hood. And, well, if you forever play a victim, you forever can justify your inability to succeed and continue this narrative.

"If you want to hold people down without them knowing it, this woke thing is a good strategy." - Dr. Erec Smith

I am black and have had these views ALL MY LIFE. Glad to hear a black person in the field validate what has ALWAYS been obvious to me about the race-hustling business. I have yet to hear any black person who agrees with CRT and the woke agenda tell me "Who decides what is acceptable to all blacks in American culture? And where does whatever defines black culture originate?" It seems EXTREMELY counterproductive and self-debilitating to resist EVERYTHING that defines American culture while making up only 13% of the population and believe that is a path to upward mobility and acceptance. That strategy doesn't work anywhere on the planet!!!

OmG. This is so true. I was so paranoid that I would say something wrong I would stop communicating. I finally stopped paying attention to the nonsense and went with treat all people with respect and treat them the way you'd like to be treated. Works everytime. This is at a major hospital and is still being taught.

Thank you to Mr. Smith. It’s time to speak up about the DEI catastrophy.

I applaud him for speaking the truth! Thank you, Professor Erec Smith!!!!!

It sums everything up, when you feel Erec is brave for speaking common sense.

Erec Smith wow. This was great. Best "Thought" video at the start of this video.

I’m shocked that Erec Smith hasn’t been canceled just for having logic and common sense.

This man is an intelligent ,independent thinker. Thank you for speaking truth out loud.

A brilliant man. I would love to take his class.

Only one person has ever told me to check my privilege, and it was the 20-something daughter of a bank manager

I work in a hospital in WV. We have a black lady who is immune to any legitimate punishment. She's been caught sleeping on the job, she's rude towards patients and staff, she facetimes people during work and watches tv on her phone in front of patients, and not a single person is able to work with her because she is indeed so rude. She acts like she's above everybody and has pulled her trump Race card on numerous occasions whenever she does have to talk to management. We got into a spiff years ago and my own boss, whom I've known way before I was employed here, told me she can't do much with her because of her skin color. That's pure adulterated racism. She knows how our system works, and she takes total advantage of it.

His point about perpetuating racism is 1000% true. I mean it’s literally turned into an industry.

Bravo to this man and his bravery to speak truth when it offer zero advantage for speaking out about this woke mind virus!!!

What an incredibly balanced and eye opening interview. 👏🏿

As a black man, this is something I have noticed as well. It seems corporate entities have been hoodwinked into these DEI trainings. If corporate entities are genuinely interested in diversity and inclusion, there are numerous elementary and high schools in predominantly black or poor neighborhoods. Helping provide resources for underserved schools is one of the best ways to ensure kids can compete against their peers no matter their race or origin.

I recently came up against this in training. My first natural response is how do we fix this, and I was told it's not about fixing it. It's about understanding your place. Saying someone is less based on skin color is inherently racist.

When I was attending a mostly black high school the administrators would force all of the white kids to stand and salute while they played the black national anthem. By my JR year I refused and the black VP threw me out of the school forcing me to walk 5 miles home. I knew back then having a racially segregated national anthem was a bad idea. Glad I stood up for my beliefs.

I am a 45yr old black American woman living in the UK. I and many other black people have received the same treatment as this man. The old “you’re trying to be white”, “Uncle Tom”, etc…or from white people “Why don’t more black people say something”. People like this man , myself and others are never going to be given a platform that shows how many black Americans do not agree with this rhetoric and destructive ideology. I appreciate Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, & Vincent Everett Ellison for speaking loudly for those of us on the other side of this ridiculous new culture. Truth and history have been removed so that youth are only shown the worst part of history but do not see the great achievements and high standards that many of our great grandparents and grandparents had.

What an articulate and wise professor. The racism of low expectations, so common on the left, is appalling.

I was in a teacher training course at a university when that keynote speech was shared enthusiastically by the rhetoric professor who was teaching. She asked for our thoughts after she played it for us, obviously expecting us to praise the brilliance of it. When I raised my hand and made a comment about how wrong I thought it was, and that his message seemed pretty racist to me, and I explained why, she was entirely incapable of defending it. She kind of rambled about how some students struggle and how we need to be sensitive and her disabled daughter has trouble in school. It was a bit sad to see her flounder like that, but I'm glad I spoke up so the other participants in the course could hear some counter arguments.

Excellent interview! So many good points.

"Equitable Math" ... My head just exploded.

Excellent interview. As a black person, I would love to see more diversity teachers come to his conclusions.

BINGO!!!! this man is the most honest person you'll ever hear about DEI. in 30 mins yall just got 5 years of psychology lectures

I heard a college professor once say “there is no such thing as math aptitude.” Tell that to my friends who failed out of classes I didn’t have to study for. I didn’t do homework even. I just got it and got As on the test.

What made him think something was wrong? He knew how to THINK!

"Some of us are accomplished and that's being called privileged" thank you for standing up for personal dignity and pride of self ♥️

I am really impressed with the courage of this man. He clearly has a superior intellect but the fact that he has the guts to call out these things makes him an exceptionally impressive human being.

DEI is a career opportunity. How would DEI ideologues make a living without poverty and racism?

What a great mind! We definitely need more intelligent people like him. Fantastic talk. Thank you.

Hearing this man speak was like a breath of fresh air in a world full of "political correctness" and "white guilt". Thank you gentlemen for this enlightening conversation!

Eric Smith, you are a real educator. Thank you for your service to building up civilization.

Thank you for clearing all this up. Such a mess. The suffering sweepstakes is out of control.

Speaking the truth a revolutionary act 👍🏿

This is the type of professor colleges need. There is hope.

It's the promotion of grievance culture. When being a victim is promoted as noble, everyone wants to be seen as a victim.

Very well stated. I've seen so much of this nonsense that has precipitated failure. So sad. Now Johnny can't read, speak, write, or balance his checkbook. It makes Johnny's life much more brutal than it has to be. Help young people who are struggling; don't destroy them.

Professor Smith is bright, and every statement he makes hits squarely like a hammer. Can i speak right to you? Each time you speak you steal the force of the (speculative) backswing. And you’re right - talk! Is the answer, and brother, you win! I saved this and will force my friends to watch!

“Some of us are accomplished and that’s being called privileged.” No truer words spoken.

"Less likely to interact with people who are unlike them." Absolutely right.

We need a hundred more men like this!

I had to participate in diversity training. It was belittling and grievance driven. Somehow until 2015 the US had made and was making real progress. Suddenly in 2015 we are told that every related to civil rights and race relations was a failure. This guy is great. Don't infantilze groups or individuals.

I took a "privilege" test a few years ago, but they didn't ask those two questions. I ended up closer to the front of the line, even though I grew up in a single parent home, was chubby, blind in one eye, bullied, and poor. I ended up there just because I'm white, went to university, and I am a teacher. Yet I was not expected to go to university; I was expected to become a secretary. I had to put myself through university and take student loans. I am doing well now, but I had to work hard for it and every opportunity I've ever had was provided to me by God, with the circumstances behind it being rather miraculous.

Erec nailed it - accomplishment is not privilege, they are two distinctly different things.

Mr. Smith is a very smart person. Thank you!

This guy is my hero. Thank you gentlemen

So if I grow up in a household where people made good, positive CHOICES, I am the baddie???? Uhhhhhh......... NO.

The moment I heard this at an interview I walked out. The interviewer asked me where I was going. I replied back to reality

Thank you for sharing and enlightening us on the social distruction just beyond the horizon if we stay this course.

I'm a Math teacher. My Masters In Teaching degree program teachers told me I had to promote equity propaganda in my math questions. They told me it was racist if fewer blacks and Hispanics made it in to AP Calculus classes, and tried to drop the classes. Math is not racist.

This gentleman is so full of facts and logic. Thank you sir. Great interview

I still can't wrap my head around how a guy like Erec can be controversial simply for being smart, sane & truthful. I've always leaned left, but this "woke" stuff is upside-down. Great discussion, thanks.

He hit the nail on the head. We sit through these courses because we are forced too. All I gather from them is don’t speak to anyone, to ask anyone anything because it’s none of your business. I view it the opposite, when I ask questions I’m learning about you because I want to know you. If I can’t ask questions I will never learn anything about you. It’s unnatural.

To those saying we are born racist , is the modern day equivalent of religious labeling of being born a sinner. Saddened and disheartened.

I worked in a company where the black Diversity Director did all these strategies, and it was tough watching it all unfold. I couldn't believe it. I'm a black woman, and I felt the absolute backward nature of what was being done.

In a DEI work thing we were told that if youre white and you're parents didnt tell you that racism existed they were racist. So parents teaching their kids to treat people like you want to be treated was, in fact, racist. The golden rule is officially canceled.

Through DEI we hope to make America as diverse as South Africa, a true model for DEI.

"Everything is oppressive" That gives me an out to "not succeed"

People need to give this guy more air time and more need to hear from him.

Erec is a very calm, straightforward, non inflammatory person. He's the type person you can have a discussion with, have different opinions, and still finish lunch without heart burn.

Wow, finally a person who speak the truth, well said

My organization was getting more and more into this -spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and the end result? Nothing. It's a joke. There is nothing gained from it.

DEI tries to portray me as racist because I'm white and male. If anything, this makes me actually dislike being around the people I'm supposed to be diverse with.