Star Wars Jedi Knights vs. Modern-Day Social Justice: A Critique of Scientific American’s Focus on DEI

In the Spring issue of City Journal, James Meigs discusses the increasing focus of Scientific American on social justice topics. The magazine has published articles such as “Modern Mathematics Confronts Its White, Patriarchal Past” and “The Racist Roots of Fighting Obesity.” However, in 2021, SciAm published an opinion essay titled “Why the Term ‘JEDI’ Is Problematic for Describing Programs That Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion”.

The article criticized the expansion of the DEI acronym to include “Justice” and argued that the Jedi knights from Star Wars were inappropriate mascots for social justice. The authors suggested that the Jedi knights were prone to white saviorism and toxically masculine approaches to conflict resolution, using violent duels with phallic light sabers and gaslighting with “Jedi mind tricks”. The connection between these social justice topics and science was unclear to many readers.

James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor for City Journal. He is also the cohost of the How Do We Fix It? podcast and the former editor of Popular Mechanics. The content was adapted from City Journal and was originally published in The Wall Street Journal (paywall). The photo accompanying the article was taken by Andrew Brookes/Getty Images.