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ESCANABA -- A recent decision by the Delta County Board of Commissioners to reject a resolution of support for the Upper Peninsula Area Agency on Aging because a majority of the commissioners felt the agency’s plan for 2024 perpetuated racism and gave unfair advantages to LGBTQ+ individuals will not affect funding for the UPAAA or the Upper Peninsula Commission for Area Progress (UPCAP), the county said Tuesday.
“If it was going to affect their funding … I would have supported the resolution. Because I’m not going to do anything to affect their funding,” said Board Chair Dave Moyle.
The primary concern of the commission was not the work of the UPAAA or UPCAP -- both of which were praised by the commission -- but rather a federally-mandated requirement for UPAAA to improve access to people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
UPAAA, managed locally by UPCAP, provides services to older U.P. adults to allow them to lead independent, meaningful lives in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Because the program is funded through the Administration for Community Living, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, it has certain requirements for funding disbursement. Among those requirements is “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” or DEI, a set of standards that give preference to older persons in the greatest social or economic need, with particular attention to low-income minority seniors.
The UPAAA’s implementation plan outlines the requirements, stressing that the programs DEI goals include improving access to services to Black, Native American, people of color, and LGBTQ+ seniors; increasing the number of staff, caregivers and volunteers trained in implicit bias; and increasing the availability of translation services based on the area’s cultural needs.
During the July 18 county commission meeting, Commissioner Bob Barron equated DEI to critical race theory, a set of ideas that explore race as a social construct, racism as inherent in western society, and how racial bias impacts laws, politics, media, and the distribution of power. Critical race theory has become a rallying cry among many, primarily on the political right, who believe it legitimizes and teaches the hatred of white people.
“Unfortunately, what that is is the continuation of racism. Basically, it perpetuates the contempt or hatred for God, country, family and especially, especially straight, white, Christian men,” said Barron.
Barron also made a number of controversial statements about the LGBTQ+ community, said marchers in last month’s New York City Pride Parade were “publicly advocating pedophilia,” and made references to Marxism, fascism and the Holocaust during the meeting.
While Moyle and Commissioner Bob Petersen -- both of whom joined Barron in voting to reject the resolution of support for the 2024 UPAAA implementation plan -- said they were strong supporters of UPCAP and its programs, the two commissioners opposed the inclusion of DEI requirements.
“I don’t want to create any type opportunity for reverse racism. So I think accepting people at their base is absolutely fine, but I think it is discriminative, potentially, against white people, and that’s something that concerns me because I’m not a racist and I never will be,” Moyle told the Daily Press.
Moyle went on to say he did not believe there is systemic racism in the United States, pointing to the political success of former President Barak Obama, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Vice President Kamala Harris. He also likened DEI to affirmative action, the practice of giving members of minority groups preference for things like college admissions, which was struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.
When asked by the Daily Press about individuals who hold discriminatory views taking decision-making roles in organizations like colleges or social service agencies, Moyle reiterated he does not support the creation of protected classes through programs like affirmative action to protect against their influence but said racism should be dealt with “harshly.”
“Anybody whose racist, does not belong in positions of power over people, at all. I don’t care if it’s private or government,” he said.