DEI is just good manners, really

Stripped of all its jargon, "allyship" is nothing more than old-fashioned gallantry

NED

AS HEAD OF HOUSE AT MY dank West Country boarding school, I struggled to remember the names of the new boys. One pre-pubescent bedwetter looked the same as the next. So, when there were chores to be done — sweeping the dining room, toasting breaktime crumpets, or lifting jockstraps from the study floor — I did what all prefects did. I stood in the entrance hall of our boarding house and at the top of my voice bellowed: “Fag!” Of course, I meant no offence. However, I now realise the little chaps might have regarded my actions as — to use the latest buzzphrase — a “micro-incivility”. I know this because the HR director recently made the board go on “allyship training”. She says, for the company to attain the…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, August/September 2024

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