In 2003, U.S. corporations spent $8 billion on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. But after Trump’s election, the application of these standards exploded. According to Time magazine, in March 2018, the job site Indeed reported that postings for DEI professionals had risen 35 percent in the previous two years. Even the Department of Defense has an Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Advocates define DEI as “frameworks which seek to promote ‘the fair treatment and full participation of all people.'” But in reality, DEI promotes unfairness. The word “equity” in particular is often used as a euphemism for race- or gender-based discrimination.
DEI is just another way of saying “affirmative action.” And it’s also a not-so-sneaky way of justifying discrimination against, for the most part, white people, and white males especially.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative-action programs on college campuses in a 6-3 decision. Under the decision, colleges and universities can’t consider race as a factor in the acceptance process.
To the woke Left, this somehow is interpreted as racism. Yet, judging a person by his character and not by the color of his skin is exactly what Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated in his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” he said. When MLK, Jr. spoke those words, race-based laws still discriminated against black Americans. But since then, we’ve created other discriminatory policies based on race, which many have recognized as “reverse discrimination.”
But now it looks like the tide is beginning to turn. Last week the Wall Street Journal published a story titled “The Legal Assault on Corporate Diversity Efforts Has Begun.” The Journal reported that conservative legal activists successfully challenged the use of affirmative action by universities, and now they’re going after diversity initiatives across American corporations. It reported that dozens of corporate law firms and major employers have received letters from Republican officials warning them to obey laws prohibiting racial quotas and preferences when making employment and contracting decisions.
Corporate giants now being challenged by this legal strategy include Comcast and Amazon. Comcast settled a case accusing it of illegally favoring minority-owned small-business customers with grants and marketing advice. Amazon has been sued in Texas over a program offering an extra $10,000 to Black- or Latino-owned delivery-service contractors. And Starbucks directors and executives are being sued by a shareholder who argues they violated their duty to investors by supporting diversity policies.
In lawsuits, conservative activists are using some of the same tactics that leftist groups have used to push DEI programs, the Journal concluded.
Paul Dragu contributed to this report. This story was lifted from the August 17, 2023 episode of The New American TV. You can watch the show here.
