‘Am I Racist?’: Matt Walsh Goes Full DEI For LOL Documentary

In a deeply divided America, I believe one thing we can all agree on is this: Racism is not a laughing matter. Just ask the dozens of people who gladly signed a petition to increase the height of the Washington Monument, paint it black, and rename it in honor of George Floyd. Or ask the television morning show hosts who gamely rose to their feet, reached toward the sky, and attempted to ‘stretch out of their whiteness.’

Of course, if you’re the Asian member of the morning team, you didn’t have to stretch quite as much. Still, there’s a lot of work to do, and a little empathy never hurt anyone.

Mindless petition signings and mock whiteness moltings aren’t the only absurd stops along the DEI road in Am I Racist? – the new documentary by Daily Wire pundit Matt Walsh. They are really just the tip of the titanic iceberg that could wreck the ship of fools who are embracing DEI.

For those who’ve been living under a rock, DEI stands for “diversity, equity and inclusion.” It’s a mindset as much as a movement – one which curiously reasons that nothing can go wrong, when you place short portly women on the protection detail of a very tall former president.

Luckily for a select few, DEI books, seminars and training sessions pay its proponents pretty darned well. How well, one might ask? I guess that depends on just how guilty you are made to feel.

Would you and your group pony up $500-$10,000 for a single instructor-led DEI training session? Apparently, plenty of people do. And – judging by the fee schedules I’m looking at right now online – if you’re a corporation or an institution, you need to feel really, REALLY bad about “systemic racism” before they’ll fix your problem. No more of this ‘Take another hallway at the office so you don’t offend coworkers with a friendly smile’ nonsense. The money which is spent on DEI could buy your office a lot of coffee.

Walsh begins his journey as any honest seeker might: asking hard questions of himself, of others, and of society as a whole. Yes ~ he has his own slant on this thorny issue, so there are plenty of wry reflections as he soldiers on. There’s also a bit of unexpected mugging behind the safety of a surgical mask – the mask being just one part of a disguise Walsh employs for a good deal of the film. But throughout his investigation, Walsh continues to ask questions, and allows the true believers plenty of room to speak for themselves.

It’s amazing what people will say when they are smugly cloistered amongst their own. Sit back and listen – you will find that their caustic candor is quite astounding.

Want to get an idea of what the prophets (or is it profits?) of DEI espouse? That’s easy. Buy their books, watch their interviews, and then sign up for a training course or two. And don’t forget to bring cash. How much? Well, at least 30 bucks.

The nice thing about DEI newthink, as we learn in Am I Racist, is there is no shame in repairing to a crying room when the guilt becomes overwhelming. Just remember, as you’re awash with the cleansing flow, that white tears are strictly manipulative; besides, they don’t really count anyway.

At one point, Walsh himself gets choked up in a veritable sea of systemic sorrow. In a post-release interview, he admitted that he did feel kind of emotional at times. He said that, in one moment, he wondered how it would look and feel to actually cry. Just the thought of public remorse, apparently, brought Walsh to tears.

This scene could be difficult to watch, (and where was the trigger warning here, Mr. Producer???). But part of the difficulty lies in the fact that the entire exercise seems ripe for ridicule.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could simply mock bigotry and hatred out of existence?

With roars of laughter permeating the darkened theatre, I thought, ‘Is what we’re watching all that funny?’ Yes, I finally concluded. It’s absolutely hilarious – but in a tragic way. Let the lunacy of this ideology sink in, and you too might end up weeping and wailing.

It’s easy enough to allow the DEI prophets, and their disciples, to expose themselves. But they couldn’t continue with this nation-wide farce, unless what they are preaching is the Gospel truth, right?

Think again.

If you want to get a pulse on prejudice in today’s South, for example, why not costume yourself (as Walsh does) like a gender studies professor, jump onto your puttering scooter, and ride to a rustic biker bar – replete with crusty characters and Confederate battle flags? If you’re going to find bigotry anywhere in America, one might reason, you’ll certainly find it there!

OOOPS!

Not only do we learn that the red-necked bikers would happily enjoy a beer with their friends of color; they’ll even sit down for a spell and have a cold one with a gender studies professor. Talk about inclusion!

Clearly, the bikers had no need of DEI training. And frankly, no one else Walsh met on his quest needed DEI training either – save for the mostly sheepish circle members we meet early on.

A number of newbees who did sign up for Walsh’s climactic Craigslist-touted class, opted out when the DEI blame-game became too much for them to bear. Kudos to that small group of thinking Americans who took a flier on this self-flagellation, and ended up bolting the on-screen classroom before the paddles were passed about.

Given the increasingly negative national mood toward diversity, equity and inclusion, I suspect Am I Racist? will resonate with lots of fed-up folks. Perhaps a few of those people are in a position to finally pull the plug on DEI once and for all.

Let me just add – as a reporter who occasionally dresses the part to get the best of a story – I can attest that going gonzo to illuminate your subject matter is never an easy enterprise. So, a tip of the theatrical wig to Matt Walsh for pulling it off with droll aplomb.

Am I Racist? is rated PG and has a running time 1:41. This incisive and thought-provoking film may make some crocodiles cry, but it is highly recommended.