This week, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder again demanded the removal of the state’s chief diversity officer, a man named Martin D. Brown, for comments made during a speech at Virginia Military Institute. During his talk at an employee training program, Mr. Brown, a Republican appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, referred to programs designed to encourage diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, as a bovine that had already gone to the slaughterhouse.

“Let’s take a moment right now to kill that cow. DEI is dead,” Mr. Brown said. “We’re not going to bring that cow up anymore. It’s dead.”

Our readers should know that we agree with Gov. Wilder’s polite calls for a replacement for Mr. Brown. We also agree with his assertion that Gov. Youngkin is far from an expert on the topics of diversity and inclusion. Filling this position with a person with knowledge and experience in the field was an opportunity for the governor to increase his understanding. But that didn’t happen. Instead, he attempted to disguise the department by changing its name and hiring a man with little experience in this field of study and who happened to be managing the Willow Lawn Chick-fil-A at the time according to his LinkedIn profile.

But let’s follow Mr. Brown’s reasoning, just for a moment. If diversity is dead in state government, then a former governor shouldn’t have to call for his removal. He should fire himself. After all, if diversity is dead, then what is he doing all day? Certainly, the state doesn’t need a chief commonwealth chief diversity, opportunity & inclusion officer if diversity, equity and inclusion are dead. That’s like having a chief in charge of rotary telephones or cigarette vending machines. Mr. Brown, you say diversity is dead. Prove it. Quit.

Just to be clear, we applaud and appreciate our food service workers, who work long and hard to feed a hungry nation. Many people have taken the skills they have learned serving the public and gone on to leadership positions in other careers, such as politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was a waitress and bartender, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who worked at McDonald’s and former President Obama, who scooped ice cream at Baskin-Robbins.

At Mr. Brown’s former place of employment, cows are the sacred mascots, encouraging customers to “Eat Mor Chikin,” but in his current job, he’s ready to (metaphorically) kill them and forget them.

Mr. Brown, it seems that you have forgotten what you learned at the franchise known for its hot sandwiches and the warm demeanor of its employees. Perhaps you could pick up a shift or two after you eliminate your position and re-educate yourself.

Don’t bother thanking us for this career advice. It was our pleasure.