Billionaires Musk, Cuban duke it out over race, diversity. Whose side are you on? | Opinion
Two of Texas’ most prominent and controversial billionaires — Elon Musk and Mark Cuban — have been arguing online for the last several days. What could be so fascinating that the SpaceX founder and quasi Mavericks owner are trading jabs and posting length discussions on X?
DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion. Their discussion was more interesting than you’d think and showcases the importance of robust debate, even if it’s online.
A few days ago, Musk wrote that DEI was just “another word for racism.”
Cuban responded, writing a lengthy essay suggesting that good businesses use the concepts of DEI to succeed. Here’s the first of his several posts:
Musk clapped back with a bit of a “gotcha,” or so he thought, taking aim at the fact that Mavericks’ players are all tall, athletic and male.
Cuban reminded Musk that he’d been open to WNBA player Brittney Griner trying out for the Mavs, then responded again explaining further that even though he supports DEI in his own businesses and investments, “DEI does not mean you don’t hire on merit. Of course you hire based on merit.”
“Diversity - means you expand the possible pool of candidates as widely as you can. Once you have identified the candidates, you HIRE THE PERSON YOU BELIEVE IS THE BEST.
What makes the whole “ what about the players “ comment ridiculous is that it’s presumes that all positions are hired based on some quantitative rather than subjective version of merit. They aren’t
Even choosing the best basketball player is very much a guess. Which is why the best players weren’t always the first pick in the draft and some go undrafted
The reality is that most positions hired in a company don’t have a quantitative metric you can use to hire someone.”
Musk later quipped, after Cuban and he bantered about DEI in the airline industry, that “If mental gymnastics were an Olympic sport, Mark Cuban would be a perfect 10.” At one point, Musk labeled Cuban a racist. It’s not clear if he was joking or quoting Cuban, who, in a 2014 interview, admitted to prejudice and bigotry.
Healthy debate about DEI is timely and important. While there are of course systemic obstacles that prevent some groups or people from succeeding, DEI rolls these into one, presumes bigotry and then uses it as reasons or excuses to fail to treat everyone else equally.
DEI in universities and corporations assesses people based on race, then provides a cure in the form of including or elevating those same people based on race, which is the definition of racism. Only color blindness leads to true equality.
Musk’s comment about Cuban being a racist notwithstanding, healthy, robust debate on cultural, legal, or hot-button political topics in an open forum is a good thing for society. This is one of the reasons the concept of Twitter as an open platform, which valued free speech, seemed like such a great idea until it seemed like it was being throttled.
As Musk has taken over ownership, many have hoped X will return to championing free speech, even if — especially if — it highlights different and opposing views. Musk and Cuban’s online debate was refreshing and for people wanting to understand various points of view.
This story was originally published January 9, 2024 at 1:20 PM.
