Merit Without Memory — Part II

In Part II, the focus shifts from the lie of neutrality to the damage it causes. If forgetting history were harmless, the evidence would be neutral. It isn’t. This episode traces how “merit without memory” produces real-world consequences—declining African American enrollment at elite institutions, the laundering of bias through discretion, and the broader economic and democratic costs of exclusion. Teske draws a direct line between anti-DEI rhetoric, dishonest narratives about immigration and crime, and a political strategy built on amnesia. Merit, he argues, has become performance art: polished résumés mistaken for excellence, access mistaken for ability, and inheritance rebranded as achievement. Part II also previews the broader DEI series—The Myth of Neutrality, The Reverse Discrimination Trap, From SFFA to the Classroom, and The Economic Cost of Exclusion—and makes clear what’s at stake: not whether the law has changed, but whether institutions will tell the truth about what that change is doing. This episode is not about nostalgia or defiance. It is about refusing to pretend that forgetting is the same thing as fairness. Justice ReDesigned is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading Justice ReDesigned! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Justice ReDesigned at steventeske.substack.com/subscribe