The Dismantle DEI bill passed out of the House Oversight Committee on November 21. The bill proposes putting an end to “all DEI-related activities within federal agencies, prevent DEI mandates in federal contracting and grants, and ensure that federal accreditation bodies prioritize merit and qualifications over identity-based quotas.” While Republicans are overjoyed about this bill that they claim will restore “fairness” in government and industry, it is more likely to lead to a lack of diversity within companies.
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. DEI programs seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination on the basis of identity or disability. Without these programs, companies will likely turn back into biased white male centered organizations that lack diverse perspectives, potentially leading to poor decision-making, missed market opportunities, and a less inclusive work environment. A narrow perspective within a company can perpetuate biases and hinder innovation by not considering the needs and experiences of a wider customer base and workforce. The lack of diversity in the workplace might unintentionally foster hostility and increase turnover because employees are less inclined to stay at a job if they don’t feel like they belong.
This bill is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0, intended to marginalize African Americans and other underrepresented groups and limit their opportunities. Republicans have been screeching their rallying cry of “Didn’t Earn It” for DEI for the past year in reference to Black Americans. The attacks insinuate that people from marginalized groups who achieve success or rise to leadership roles didn’t earn it. Since 2023, 85 anti-DEI bills that target programs at colleges have been introduced by Republicans in 28 states. Why the fear of DEI? Republicans claim that DEI programs are not effective and create “racial quotas” instead of diversity.
But according to statistics, companies with DEI programs experience increased profitability, employee attraction and retention, positive employee perception, and improved innovation. And while it is true that not all DEI programs are equally effective, with some poorly designed initiatives not achieving their desired outcomes, studies overwhelmingly show that the impact of DEI initiatives are positive. A 2020 McKinsey & Company analysis of 1,000 US firms showed companies with more gender diversity within their leadership teams were 25% more likely to have higher profits than their peers who did not. The report also showed companies with the most ethnic and cultural diversity achieved 36% higher profitability than companies with a less diverse C-suite.
This past year, Republicans and white men have been claiming that DEI programs give marginalised groups preferential treatment by slinging the words “DEI hire” as a derogatory term toward Black Americans in high paying and high skilled jobs. This rallying cry was echoed and propped up by Elon Musk who tried to hint that the issues with Boeing earlier this year stemmed from DEI. “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening,” Musk said on X (Twitter).
But why this backlash when statistics do not align with the Republican excuses about DEI? Perhaps it is due to fear of the changing landscape of America. The Census Bureau projects that the non-Hispanic white population will fall below 50% by 2045. The U.S. has been predominantly white since its beginning, but the white population has been dropping. In 1950, the white share of the population was a little under 90%, and in 2018 it was 60%.
Currently, white men hold most leadership positions and decision-making power in US society (and globally) but articles like “Census Shows White Decline, Nonwhite Majority Among Youngest Americans” emphasizing “white decline” ramp up the idea of loss for white Americans and boost the idea that minorities will become the majority at the expense of the white populace. This fear of “white decline” echoes the fear of white nationalists who have adopted the term ‘replacement theory’ by the French author Renaud Camus as a mantra about their fear that they (white populace) are being intentionally replaced. This idea of “replacement” has found a home in the white American dislike of DEI initiatives and the lie that Black workers are of lesser quality than white counterparts.
The best example of this sophistry is the comment by Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett in July 2024 about VP Kamala Harris, “One hundred percent she is a DEI hire”. This farcical comment became a rallying cry for many Republicans during the election. Kamala Harris has a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Howard University and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 12 years of work as an attorney, 9 years of work as a District Attorney, 6 years of work as the Attorney General for California, 4 years as a U.S. Senator, and 4 years as the Vice President of the USA. She is certainly not under qualified.
This fear that white men have and their attack on programs that aid in bringing equity to marginalized groups is an indicator that their idea of majority status is about the fear of losing the benefits and privileges that they perceive whiteness in America brings to them.
What can we do? We can help raise awareness about DEI initiatives and the importance of creating inclusive environments. We can stand together to uplift our communities. Our resistance to racial inequality is deep rooted. We resisted and we overcame when they enslaved us. We resisted and we overcame when they tried to disempower us during Jim Crow. We have always resisted and we have fought with slave rebellions and protest movements. We must lean into the communities we have built for support through adversity…churches, colleges and universities, printing presses, and fraternal organizations. It is in our community that we will find the strength to continue to fight for freedom, self-determination and equal protection under the law. We must continue to vote in ALL elections, we must continue to organize, we must continue to support Black-owned businesses, we must continue to fight for change and we must NEVER allow them to steal our joy.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4516
https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hr8706/BILLS-118hr8706ih.pdf
https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_NES_DEI4.0_Toolkit_2020.pdf
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/23/politics/kamala-harris-burchett-dei-hire-backlash/index.html