What Can South Carolina Learn From California’s Wildfires?

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by DIANE HARDY

As a business owner in the city of Greenville, South Carolina I was concerned when city employees shared reports of discrimination against white men in Greenville’s police department (to be clear, they were referring to the city police department, not Greenville County Sheriff’s Office). As I dug deeper, I learned that the hiring practices they described likely stemmed from Greenville’s full-throated embrace of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion via the adoption of a 40-page document titled, DEI – Demonstrating Commitment to DEI through Action. 

The document (.pdf) contains, among other things, pages upon pages of detailed graphs and pie charts separating all city employees into one of seven racial categories. Next, it encourages acquiring the preferred percentages in each category so city employees can racially reflect Greenville demographics. 

Spending taxpayer resources to create a document outlining plans to expand equity (which is not the same thing as equality) in hiring is one thing – but what are the real-world consequences of this new vision for our community? 

Would most Upstate citizens support this vision? 

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What does the document mean, for example when it states, “the purpose of the DEI Initiative is to establish a road map for future actions… we recognize DEI is a journey, not a program. Our success is built not on promises but on action.”

One might wonder if other cities in our state have similar “action” plans? 

Also, what specific actions are they talking about? In Greenville, it started with the hiring of a Chief Diversity Officer within a posted salary range of $86,400 – $121,200 – an employee who is tasked with, amongst other things, designing and implementing “citywide customized diversity programs and training” while also coordinating an annual “Equality Index submission to the Human Rights Campaign.” For those of you unfamiliar with its work, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is a discredited left-wing non-profit responsible for creating report cards on adherence to ever-changing LGBTQ+ standards

The salary for this new DEI Officer? Let’s just say it stands in sharp contrast to the pay range of a new police officer who is expected to put his or her life on the line for $53,000 – $58,000. 

This plan also involves a reshuffling of the city police’s priorities. No longer is reducing serious crime listed as the department’s top priority. Strategic goal No. 1 is now “supporting DEI initiatives.” Let that sink in for a moment— reducing serious crime along with maintaining safety and order are now secondary to DEI for Greenville police.

As of January 2025, this remains on page one of the Greenville police department’s strategic plan for 2023–2027:

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Of course, we are all heartbroken by what we are witnessing with the tragic fires in Los Angeles, but the crisis has also caused many to think about local governmental policies – and how they impact responses during disasters. Sadly, Californians are learning the hard way that not having the most qualified people in positions of authority and public safety can have deadly consequences. Many are now realizing it’s best to hire people based on merit, not melanin content or sexuality.

Unfortunately, the problems with these policies usually don’t come to light until there is a tragedy. 

While the list of local governmental failures in southern California regarding the fires is long, one of the issues being explored is whether DEI initiatives adversely impacted the effectiveness of the agency’s response. Los Angeles deputy fire chief Kristine Larson has been blasted for saying: 

“You want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency, whether it’s a medical call or a fire call, that looks like you. It gives that person a little more ease, knowing that somebody might understand their situation better.”

In my opinion, this is a racist statement. Are we really supposed to believe when someone calls for the fire department to rescue them, they are thinking, “boy, I hope they have the same skin color as me?” However, this idea doesn’t seem too dissimilar from what we find in Greenville’s DEI plan.

“Our sworn police and fire personnel represent 40% of the City’s employee base and are the most visibly public facing departments within the community,” it stated. “Therefore, building public safety departments that reflect the makeup of our community is an important business objective.” 

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In addition to outlining race-based hiring ratios, DEI initiatives have many ripple effects, including countless training sessions which are required for all city employees. Here’s one example of trainings sponsored by the Greenville fire department for all its staff: 

• Age and Gender Diversity Training 
• Racial Inequity in the Fire Service
• Improving Diversity and Inclusion in Your Workplace 
• Understanding and Preventing Microaggressions 

Is this really the best use of their time and taxpayers’ money? 

DEI impacts extend beyond hiring practices and training procedures. Greenville’s mayor and fire chief are both members of the Racial Equity Economic Mobility Commission, which purports to push for change in the areas of “racial inequities and social justice.” The city has established LGBTQ+ liaisons in the city manager’s office and the police department. Even the Greenville Chamber of Commerce hosts city employees at their Greenville Chamber DEI Summit. 

In addition to jeopardizing public safety, are these policies putting Greenville taxpayers at risk for legal payouts? The DEI plan states that the city has worked “to ensure our projects and programs are developed in accordance with civil rights laws.” I am not a lawyer, but while it is very possible these plans as written may be legal, the fallout from implementing them may become problematic given the U.S. supreme court’s 2023 ruling against affirmative action (and other reverse discrimination cases currently working their way through the courts).

After all, the reason I explored this in the first place was because of alleged discrimination in the Greenville police department.

There certainly seems to be a vested interest in maintaining DEI programs that likely extends beyond ideology. There is a lot of money to be made in DEI consulting work, continuing education and employee training, but California has shown us the price paid for policies like these can be much, much steeper than just monetary consequences. 

I just hope we can have real dialogue on this topic in South Carolina before it’s too late. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

Diane Hardy is a former nurse anesthetist turned entrepreneur, who recently opened her second franchise bakery in Greenville.  She is the Executive Director of the Mom and Pop Alliance of SC, which she founded during Covid upon discovering South Carolina’s over 400,000 small businesses had little representation in our State House. The Alliance provides education, communication, and advocacy for SC’s family-owned businesses. Her passion for South Carolina’s small business is strong, and as such she donates her time to the organization, accepting no salary or government funding.  Her love for our state isn’t new.  Before launching the Mom and Pop Alliance she was the founder and host of The Palmetto Panel (2014-2019), an annual statewide conference highlighting issues impacting South Carolina.  Diane has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and psychology from Michigan State as well as a master’s degree from MUSC.

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