The 2nd Trump administration wasted no time taking aim at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in government agencies and the private sector. Three separate executive orders have spelled out executive branch initiatives attempting to establish color-blind, merit-based systems in government and to punish companies that discriminate against anyone, even in the name of “equity.”
As expected, Walmart, Ford, Lowes and several other prominent companies announced they were withdrawing their participation in the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index. How did it come to this? Here’s my personal experience with the movement.
I first participated in Diversity and Inclusion training classes in the early-2000s. The first generation of D&I instructors were focused on helping organizations and industries that had historically been primarily white and male-dominated prepare their cultures for the future. And demographics made it clear that in order to attract the talent they would need to be successful in the 21st century, they needed a culture that was welcoming of people from diverse backgrounds. D&I was focused on individuals. Individuals who were already in the company and those that soon would be. For this reason, I sometimes refer to these consultants as being from the MLK Jr school. “…judged by the content of my character…”
Fast forward to a DEI class I attended in 2016. The leader was a young white male, but he quickly validated his credentials by telling us he was gay (as if any of us cared). He spent much of the class berating the white people in the room (especially straight white males) for the system (capitalism) that they had created for their own benefit. I discovered that this young, white, gay male was representative of a new generation of DEI consultants. They had rejected the approach taken by those from the MLK Jr. school and had developed a completely different agenda. And that agenda was represented by the letter “E.”
Cynical Theories by Pluckrose and Lindsey walks the reader through the evolution of Postmodern Theory, which became Critical Race Theory, which combined with Intersectionality came to dominate university teachings in the early 21st century. These beliefs include: “all white people are racist, all men are sexist, racism and sexism are systems, sex is not biological, language can be literal violence, denial of gender identity is killing people, the wish to remedy disability and obesity is hateful, and everything needs to be decolonized.” (p.183)
Notice I didn’t use the DEI instructor’s name as names are inconsequential to people from this school of thought. Individuals are not unique – they are simply a function of the intersection of their identities. That’s why the instructor had to clarify his identity. If he was just a white male, he wouldn’t be qualified to lead the session. To avoid being lumped in with the oppressors, one must find a way to align with the oppressed. That’s why he had to broadcast his “gayness.” LGB from the 1990s evolved into the modern LGBTQIA+ as people rushed to identify with a marginalized or oppressed group to avoid being aligned with the oppressors. I call this the Ibrahim X school. “‘Institutional racism’ and ‘structural racism’ and ‘systemic racism’ are redundant. Racism itself is institutional, structural, and systemic.”
This is where DEI got off the rails – by shifting its focus to groups and dismissing the individual. And classifying all groups as either being in the oppressor class or oppressed. This led to people within organizations cordoning themselves off into identity cliques. And these cliques became their primary loyalty. The mission of the organization became secondary, at best.
No matter what you think about the controversial new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, he hit the nail on the head when he addressed Pentagon personnel on Feb 7, 2025 when he discussed the phrase, “Diversity is our Strength”. He stated that our strength lies in our unity – unity of mission and shared purpose – not our diversity. He went on to say that everyone in the military should be treated as individuals, but treated equally, regardless of their individual differences. This, in More Spock’s opinion, is the healthier way for a society to address diversity.
So, what’s next?
Once Postmodern Theory hit critical mass in universities, Antiracism spent over two decades permeating our society through its graduates. But the movement seemingly fell out of favor in just a few weeks. Kid Rock jokingly said that Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show at Super Bowl LIX was “The epitome of DEI blowing up.” What he meant is Lamar wasn’t forced to have a mix of white, black and hispanic dancers in his choreography in the name of diversity nor blend white artists into his show as typically happens on big stages. Lamar was authentic to himself and his music. Rock found this refreshing.
The concern that I share with that first generation of D&I facilitators is that is this backlash against DEI may result in a lack of opportunities for the next generation of black students entering the workforce or lack of promotion opportunities for mid-career black professionals. We risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater when we reject DEI out of hand. The phrase “DEI hire” has come to mean someone who is not qualified but was hired or promoted because they check a diversity box. If we assume that the diverse candidate is an inferior candidate based on their diversity alone, then the pendulum is simply swinging from a new system that discriminates back to an older system that discriminates.
The good news is that by 2025 most business organizations have achieved some level of diversity throughout the different layers. After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball and everyone saw how good he, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, et al., were, no team owners were saying that we should go back to being a whites-only league. Some fans might have wished this along with some lesser talented white players who were stuck in the minor leagues, but not the owners. They were asking how we can find more people with talent like they have? I am optimistic that companies will continue to think like those baseball owners – aggressively looking for talented individuals regardless of their identities – rather than fans who want things to go back to being like they once were.
If I’m right, talented people of all races and identities will find opportunities or find ways to create their own opportunities. Both pre-D&I and during the worst of the DEI era, talented people found doors closed because of their identity and some lesser-talented people made big league rosters who probably shouldn’t have. If I’m wrong, we’re just going to see the pendulum swing back to pre-D&I forms of discrimination and we’re no better off than we were in the 1950s.
I hope I’m right.