Diversity, equity and inclusion
policies are retreating nationwide, from the federal government to corporations
around the country. President Donald Trump immediately upon taking office
began rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion
positions within the federal government by ending programs and removing DEI
staff.
Meanwhile, the pressure is also
ramping up against private companies to stop embracing DEI. Several major
companies have announced they are cutting back or ending their DEI programs,
including Meta, Walmart and McDonalds.
While companies are not cutting
as aggressively as Trump, they are at least publicly pulling back from DEI
goals and language. Target reportedly sent out a memo this week to that
end.
“Many years of data, insights,
listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,”
the memo said. “And as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day,
we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external
landscape, now and in the future – all in service of driving Target’s growth
and winning together.”
Costco made headlines for pushing
back on the trend of Trump and others, doubling down on their DEI work after
shareholders voted nearly unanimously this week to keep the DEI policies in
place.
Jeff Raike, who has served on
Costco’s board since 2008, encouraged businesses to "maximize DEI
efforts" in a column published earlier this month by Forbes. Raike
blamed “opportunistic politicians” for trying to “frighten and divide” the
nation on the issue.
Costco's board last week, ahead
of the shareholder vote, urged investors in the company to reject calls to
scale back DEI policies in the company.
"Our success at Costco
Wholesale has been built on service to our critical stakeholders: employees,
members, and suppliers. Our efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion
follow our code of ethics: For our employees, these efforts are built around
inclusion – having all of our employees feel valued and respected," the
board wrote, according to Fox Business.
Conservative activist Robbie
Starbuck, whose public campaigns against companies such as Lowe's, Ford, Molson
Coors and others, led them to scale back DEI initiatives, said Costco should do
the same or face consequences.
“I suggest conservative consumers
find other places to spend their money if Costco is so dedicated to doubling
down on DEI," Starbuck wrote on
X. "If they’re smart, Costco will do right by their shareholders and
change before we turn our attention to them.”
The pressure on private companies
is increasing. Ten attorneys general sent a letter now putting pressure on the
private sector to end the DEI practices.
The letter went to Bank of
America, BlackRock, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan
Stanley and asked for an accounting of their DEI practices, including whether
they broke the law.
"There is, however, mounting
concern that political objectives have, in some cases, influenced your
decision-making at the expense of your statutory and contractual obligations,”
reads the letter, which was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Idaho,
Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
“Specifically, you appear to have
embraced race- and sex-based quotas and to have made business and investment
decisions based not on maximizing shareholder and asset value, but in the
furtherance of political agendas."
The anti-DEI effort has been
bolstered by a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action policies on
college campuses. DEI can lead to hiring or promotion discrimination against
white Americans, critics argue. For instance, internal documents at the
Pentagon showed discrimination against white Americans for promotions.
“Banks and financial institutions
are finally starting to realize that the ESG and DEI policies pushed by radical
activist groups are bad for consumers and potentially violate the law,” Texas
Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
“Unlawful race- and sex-based
quotas and so-called ‘green energy’ schemes will not be allowed to stand and I
will continue to urge these organizations to uphold the legal obligations they
owe to consumers and investors. Any institution found to be violating the law
will be held accountable.”
Even before Trump took office,
DEI’s corporate decline had begun with companies like Tractor Supply, John
Deere and Amazon cutting back DEI programs. Some of those cuts, though, began
after Trump won the election in November.
Critics say DEI has become a
catch-all term for every liberal and progressive doctrine around race and
gender. Until this week, those ideas were backed with federal funding across
every federal agency and most of the largest corporations in the U.S.
Now, however, the conservative
resistance to DEI has new power and focus on rooting out the DEI programs,
which teach everything from white privilege to the litany of gender pronouns to
the inherent racism of all white people and the U.S. as a whole.
Trump’s executive actions this
week immediately put all DEI federal employees on paid leave with plans to fire
all of them in the coming weeks. It also required essentially an audit of all
federal DEI activities and DEI contractors, ceasing funding for them as well.
Trump sent a memo to the federal
agencies later in the week saying he has seen initial reports that some federal
employees are seeking to hide DEI efforts by rebranding or changing the
language they are using.
Now, many companies are following suit. Whether this is a new reality or a temporary setback for DEI remains to be seen. "Corporate leaders who embrace discriminatory D.E.I. practices should be afraid, but they shouldn’t be confused,” said GianCarlo Canaparo, a legal expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“Trump’s order is clear:
no organization doing business with the federal government may use
discriminatory D.E.I. practices and those that do are subject to non-payment on
their federal contracts, federal enforcement, and qui tam suits.
“And any corporation, nonprofit,
university, or association subject to federal regulation that engages in D.E.I.
discrimination will be identified, publicized, investigated, and punished
according to the nation's colorblind civil rights laws,” he added.
-Casey Harper, The Center
Square
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