Conservatives Are Blaming A New Racist Theory For Airline Accidents

A plane’s door panel blowing out while 16,000 feet in the air. A cargo plane catching on fire. A wheel popping off of a commercial jet during takeoff.

These are just a few of the recent flight safety incidents that have shocked fliers across the country. Most of the scrutiny has focused on Boeing, a billion-dollar multinational corporation which has already come under fire.

But if you ask a conservative, these scary incidents weren’t caused by aircraft CEOs putting profits over safety — they happened because too many unqualified people of color have been hired for the sake of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

DEI practices attempt to correct inequalities and diversify a company’s workforce. In the wake of Boeing incidents, Republicans have gone all in on a racist, baseless theory that minority groups ostensibly benefiting from DEI are being put in charge of airline safety, with disastrous results.

Earlier this month, during an Alaska Airlines flight, a panel blew out of the airplane, leading the crew to make an emergency landing. The Federal Aviation Administration immediately ordered that the affected model of aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max 9, be grounded. Luckily, no one was seriously injured or killed during the incident.

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), blamed the incident on the company’s diversity programs, without any evidence.

Musk— also the head of Tesla, a car company that has been plagued with safety issues — said, “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening.”

There is no known connection between the door plug incident and diversity programs at the company.

The following week, Secretary of State Antony