Since his inauguration on January 20th, one of Donald Trump’s main focuses has been on DEI — or rather, getting rid of DEI. His executive orders have not only attacked programs within the US government, but also caused companies across the country, including Target, McDonald’s, and Google, to either scale back or completely drop their DEI initiatives. But what is it, and why is Trump so adamant in his opposition to it?
DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion, organizational frameworks that aim to foster fair treatment and allow for full participation of all people, particularly those who have historically been discriminated against because of gender, race, sexuality, disability, or religion. Simply put, it aims to create environments where everyone feels supported and welcome. DEI initiatives can be found everywhere, including in schools, the workplace, and in society as a whole. Some examples are parental leave for fathers, time off for religious holidays, and language translation services (including closed captioning).
Trump, and like-minded conservatives’ main reasoning against DEI is that it’s discriminatory, and that companies should hire people based on merit — their quality of work and how deserving they are of being hired. They argue that using DEI measures results in unqualified people being hired, threatening the opportunities of white people and those more deserving of positions. Conservatives such as Trump also claim that DEI programs push a ‘woke’ and left wing agenda. These claims specifically apply to education, an area Trump claimed he would end “leftist indoctrination” in during his campaign.
Donald Trump’s push back against DEI was largely made possible by the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to strike down affirmative action programs in higher education. This means that colleges can not take race into account when reviewing admissions. While some may view this as a positive, it essentially means that institutions can’t use affirmative action programs (which aim to address systematic discrimination). This led several companies to start rolling back their diversity policies, even before Trump continued his tirade from his first term. It also allowed for conservatives to pursue several different lawsuits that targeted DEI policies.
During the first week of his second term, Trump signed two executive orders that work to rid the country of DEI progress. The first ends all positions, programs, or actions associated with DEI in the federal government, while the other overturns equity policies in the government, including one signed by Lyndon B. Johnson, which established equal opportunity requirements. These attacks on federal DEI programs, as well as the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision have caused companies to roll back their own programs, fearing legal repercussions or possibly even attacks from Donald Trump himself.
Amidst these retreats from DEI, it’s important to remember that these programs don’t work to hire uneducated individuals simply because work forces are looking to add more people of color or women. They are plans that work to open up opportunities to everyone, in order to find those that are actually the most qualified, not the person who is most qualified in a specific group of the population. They’ve also been proven to improve companies, and in the government, create a workforce that reflects the entire country. Without DEI, many of the benefits and chances that people take for granted will either not be enforced, or won’t even exist.
