Obituary for D’Brickashaw Eagleclaw Ibarra
Editor’s Note: This is a guest opinion that has been submitted by a member of the Rice community. The views expressed in this opinion are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the Thresher or its editorial board. All guest opinions are fact-checked to the best of our ability and edited for clarity and conciseness by Thresher editors.
D’Brickashaw Eagleclaw Ibarra, nicknamed DEI, has transitioned to the ancestral plane.
Many loved DEI. Simply adored him. They hoped he would engineer race, gender and socioeconomic equity. Such hope was unrealistic.
The proof is that DEI is survived by white supremacy, patriarchy, racial apathy, anti-blackness, transphobia, xenophobia, anti-semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, misogynoir, Islamophobia, ableism, fat-shaming and additional dislocations.
DEI eventually realized and accepted his shortcomings. It was not his fault; he was sheltered growing up.
Blame his adoptive parents, Performative Allyship and Neoliberal Marketing, who taught him about optics and protecting white fragility.
They praised his obsession with implicit attitudes, individual prejudice and gender-inclusive pronouns while nurturing his neglect of systemic inequality.
Many manipulated DEI. They caused universities and companies to confuse the workplace for the world. The corner office for the street corner. Campuses for communities.
Remember workplace norms mean nothing to the incarcerated, unemployed, working poor, self-employed, retired and those laboring in factories or outdoors, street vendors, custodial staff, truck and bus drivers and so on.
Many hated DEI. His very existence threatened notions of meritocracy, anti-white racism and white victimhood.
In fact, fear of a caramelized United States, tech-bro billionaires, individuals who ban books, Project 2025, liberal smugness and powerful white men practicing fascism stoned DEI to death. Because DEI lived in a glass house, he was defenseless.
Regarding anti-blackness, DEI hoped whites would be non-racist. Yet, Angela Davis reminded us, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.”
DEI loved group hugs and kumbaya moments. However, Malcolm X chided us, “We had to also face reality and realize that we were in a racist society that was controlled by racists from the federal government right on down to the local government.”
It irked DEI when individuals misquoted Martin Luther King Jr. to rebuke him. DEI did dream of the day when one’s skin color would not matter, but that day has not arrived.
DEI implored his critics to read MLK Jr.’s last and post-civil rights movement book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” wherein MLK Jr. opined, “The Negro … is still at the bottom, despite the few who have penetrated to slightly higher levels. Even where the door has been forced partially open, mobility for the Negro is still sharply restricted. There is often no bottom at which to start, and when there is there’s almost no room at the top.”
DEI failed to transform the demography of universities or companies, despite what some believe. He purportedly reduced ignorance, which was and is not the fundamental problem. For the record, DEI did not cause air traffic accidents, weaken science or threaten the Smithsonian.
Still, it may soon be a crime to mention his name. Anyone and anything affiliated with DEI is presently under attack.
If he were alive today, DEI would remind you to speak truth to power. Donate to charities commemorating his memory. Plant a tree for him. Stand on your principles. Embrace an activist orientation. Organize, uplift and coalesce.
Stop pursuing shallow psychological solutions to deep sociological problems. Support community organizations. Become authentic anti-racists. Avoid anticipatory capitulations. Draw a line in the sand.
DEI will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery adjacent to academic freedom, empathy, the free press, the First Amendment, factual history, religious tolerance, checks and balances and heroines from the original civil rights, women’s rights and Indigenous Peoples movements. Formerly known as the DEI Office, the Office of Exceedingly Excellent Excellence and Super Stupendous Success will host the repast.
More from The Rice Thresher
This moment may be unprecedented — Rice falling short is not
In many ways, the current landscape of American higher education is unprecedented. Sweeping cuts to federal research funding, overt government efforts to control academic departments and censor campus protests and arbitrary arrests and visa revocations have rightly been criticized as ushering in the latest iteration of fascism.
This moment may be unprecedented — Rice falling short is not
In many ways, the current landscape of American higher education is unprecedented. Sweeping cuts to federal research funding, overt government efforts to control academic departments and censor campus protests and arbitrary arrests and visa revocations have rightly been criticized as ushering in the latest iteration of fascism.
Rice’s enrollment expansion should preserve campus culture, tradition
Rice is growing again, and President Reggie DesRoches isn’t wrong when he says it’s a good thing.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.