During the 2024 campaign season, many Republican (GOP) candidates began using the term DEI as a disqualifier for opposition candidates, as though they were only selected to somehow meet a quota to satisfy what was formerly known as Affirmative Action. Affirmative action was implemented by public institutions to desegregate the work force, college populations, and school districts in the 1970’s and was recently struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. The GOP rejoiced at the ruling, and has now begun using DEI as a put-down for anyone not white and male.
Donald Trump has signed an array of Executive Orders (EO) to end DEI. Trump said when being questioned by reporters on the DC plane crash that, “It could have been” a DEI hire in the plane or Control Tower, and when pressed on evidence for his claim his response was, “Because I have common sense”.
Jonah Marshall
Staff Opinions Writer
What is DEI?
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The purpose of the framework is to promote equal treatment and participation for people who have been systematically discriminated against based on gender, sexuality, skin color, and disability. DEI initiatives have been around since the Kennedy administration in the the early 1960’s and his successor, Lyndon Johnson, was able to further those efforts to implement policies to try and curb discrimination against various minorities.
How is DEI implemented?
DEI can be implemented in certain ways such as releasing statistical reports on demographics, DEI initiatives, employment training, networking events, and recruiting practices.
DEI: why we need it and how it benefits companies and businesses.
According to a 2022 Builtin report on DEI programs, diverse representation and initiatives led to a 19 percent increase in revenue and 15 percent higher financial returns for companies that implemented a DEI initiative. The study also found that 76 percent of the workforce is made up of white people. Billionaire Mark Cuban, famous for being on Shark Tank and co-owning the Dallas Mavericks, has expressed his support for DEI to CNN saying, “The loss of DEI-phobic companies is my gain. Having a workforce that is diverse and representative of your stakeholders is good for business.” According to Forbes, companies who implement DEI are more likely to reach their financial goals. A study from Google called Project Aristotle found that more inclusion in workplaces led to high energy from employees. DEI is also more crucial to implement. Forbes discovered that 52 percent of Black people and 51 percent of Asian people in the workplace thought that their skin color made it harder to thrive in their respected workforce. DEI implements can help lead to more teamwork building and people feeling safer in the workforce.
What it means when people say this is a DEI hire or initiative
In Instances when representatives in Washington called Kamala Harris a DEI hire when she replaced Biden on the ticket, when MAGA representatives called the head of the secret service, Kimberly Cheatle, a DEI horror story after they were investigated after the Trump assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, when FOX news host Jesse Watters said this about firefighters, or when CNN host Scott Jennings said we focus too much on DEI, the commentary has an underlying tone of discrimination and downplaying the qualifications of the individuals mentioned. These commentators never complain or raise questions when white people – predominantly male – are hired for the same jobs.
In a recent CNN video, the panel consensus is that we need more DEI policies because of people like Donald Trump who are trying to eliminate quality in the workplace. DEI promotes equality and closing the racial and other demographic gaps in work forces to promote equality where everyone is represented.
American voters must keep in mind that when elected officials or TC personalities label others as a “DEI hire” it is the equivalent of saying that someone who is part of a marginalized community was hired or appointed to their role because they were a minority, and not one their individual qualifications. The rhetoric shows the utter disrespect that a person has for seeing more women, LGBTQ, people of color, and disabled people in high roles of authority or getting a job. What that shows is just how uncomfortable and upset they are, and how much they don’t want to see marginalized communities be successful. That the typical white heterosexual male did not get the position not because they were not qualified. but because of someone being a part of a minority, whether that is in a minimum wage job, military, government job, or any career position was hired instead to portray diversity. It is a dog whistle of racism and discrimination heard loudly in right-wing politics. The reason that DEI is implemented is to increase diversity and representation, and perspectives on issues. It is also implemented to address the problem of minorities having to work twice as hard as a white male to get and equal position.
A list of Trump’s latest attack on DEI programs
Trump has made multiple attacks on any company or organization that has to do with DEI policy:
- Banning Transgender people from the military, (currently blocked as of March 19, 2025 by a federal judge)
- Signing an executive answer to only recognize 2 genders.
*This can include moving people out of migrant shelters, homeless shelters, prisons, and domestic abuse shelters to the locations that align with their sex assigned at birth.
- No longer allowing x to be on government identification cards such as passports (x representing people who, when asking about what gender they are, they do not identify as male or female.)
- Firing all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion workers (putting people out of a job is no way to grow an economy.)
- Revoke an LBJ policy called the Equal Opportunity Act (Gave opportunities and protection for women, ethnic minorities, race, or other people of color. This also added federal contractors to set up Affirmative Action programs and be monitored by the federal government to stop discrimination policies.) Affirmative Action is sometimes also called positive discrimination: A workforce, organization, or school meets demographic requirements that first came about in 1961 when JFK introduced this to curb discrimination.
- The Pentagon Agency led by Trump’s Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered: the banning of celebrations or commemorations related to Black History Month, Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, National Heritage Month, Pride Month, Women’s History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Juneteenth, and MLK day. (Yet, at the beginning of March, Trump signed another EO to celebrate WOmen’s History Month, as though he just came up with the idea.)
- Ban gender-affirming care for minors.
- The CDC removed resources and information on LGBTQ and HIV data, food safety for pregnant women, as well as resources related to LGBTQ help, all to comply with Trump’s DEI policy.
It is also good to note a couple of things: the same people who talk about how DEI is not good are the same people who are currently still Trump supporters. They are the same people who elected a man in 2016 who had no prior government experience and is currently filling his cabinet with people who have no qualifications to lead their respected positions (Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of National Intelligence.)
DEI is not prejudiced against white people or white men. It is an attempt to try and add more equality to different types of workforces. For example, in things like our military, it is important to represent people from all different walks of life to show other countries one of the reasons why we are the greatest country in the world. It is because our country is a melting pot of people from different walks of life and different cultural backgrounds.
It is also good to note that when you shop at companies, eat, or work at places who may roll back on DEI measures, it does not mean you support it. Just because you shop or eat or work there, does not mean you support everything the company stands for. What you support may be just needing a job or convenience or it’s financially easier. It does not mean you stand by every single policy the company has or stands for.
