What is DEI, the concept dividing America?

CNN
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Diversity, equity and inclusion programs are under attack in American boardrooms, state legislatures and college campuses – and now widely in the federal government.

President Donald Trump hours later The swearing-in this week began to deliver on promises to wage war against such policies. Executive order Banning efforts such as “environmental justice programs,” “equity initiatives” and DEI protections in federal jobs.

The newly elected Republican White House also ordered employees of the federal Offices of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access to be placed on paid administrative leave. And the DEI is in the crosshairs of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, who last year Called DEI “Just another word for racism.”

The changes come as wealthy corporate leaders, including billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and conservative activist Robbie Starbuck, have denounced the diversity programs. On social media. Step by step, some US companies – including the nation’s largest employer, Walmart – have supported some DEI initiatives, including racial equity training programs for staff and assessments designed to increase supplier diversity.

DEI has also been used to criticize and discredit high-ranking legislators and local officials. More recently, in the wake of the deadly Los Angeles County wildfires, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristen Crowley was attacked for her focus on DEI efforts in the department, including recruiting a more diverse force.

“DEI means people die,” Musk said in one x post, Re-sharing a local news story about Crowley becoming the first female head of the department.

CNN political commentator Scott Jennings also condemned Crowley.

“We have DEI, we have budget cuts and yet I’m thinking now, if your house was on fire, how much do you care what color the firefighters are?” Jennings said on CNN’s “News Night with Abby Phillips.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has also been targeted by conservatives.

Last July, Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee suggested that President Joe Biden chose Harris as his running mate because she was black. “One hundred percent he’s a DEI hire,” Burchett said. “His record is excellent.”

Amid growing pressure from the right, American workers in November viewed the DEI more negatively than last year: while 52% said the focus on increasing the DEI was mainly a good thing, 21% That’s a bad thing – a 5 percentage point increase by 2023 – Pew Research Center Survey found.

Still, 52% of employed US adults in 2023 said they had DEI training or meetings at work, and 33% said they had a designated staff member who promotes DEI. A Pew survey found this year.

Critics argue that DEI programs are discriminatory and attempt to address racial discrimination by harming other groups, particularly white Americans. But advocates and industry experts insist the decades-old process has been politicized and widely misunderstood.

In seven Among DEI experts and industry leaders interviewed by CNN, most had a common vision for creating the concept:

DEI was created Because marginalized communities have not always had equal job opportunities or felt a sense of belonging in predominantly white corporate settings, said Daniel Oppong, founder of The Courage Collective, a consultancy that advises companies on DEI. is

“That’s why some of these programs exist,” he said. “It was an effort to try to create workplaces where as many or all people could thrive.”

The backlash against DEI may feel like a pendulum swing from 2020, when the nation faced a racial reckoning after George Floyd, a black father, was killed in Minneapolis by a white police officer.

But the practice of DEI has been around for decades.

Dominic Hollins, founder of DEI consulting firm WĒ360, said DEI programs originated in the civil rights movement, which helped accelerate efforts to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, color, and national origin. It also banned segregation in public places, such as public schools and libraries. And Title VII of the Civil Rights Act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, which works to eliminate employment discrimination.

In the 1960s and 70s, employees began filing discrimination lawsuits with the EEOC. And many companies have begun to incorporate diversity into their business strategies by providing diversity training, according to a 2008 report published. In Academy of Management Learning and Education.

These diversity training efforts came after affirmative action was initiated by executive order from President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. Although the concepts may seem similar, affirmative action differs from DEI because it requires federal contractors by executive order to treat applicants and employees equally based on race, color, religion, and sex.

Colleges and universities also used affirmative action to increase enrollment of students of color. In predominantly white schools. But in 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, ruling that ruling-generation college admissions were unconstitutional.

Hollins said some diversification efforts gained momentum in the 1980s after GOP President Ronald Reagan supported corporate deregulation policies. In the coming decades, many companies continued to pursue DEI-focused hiring and training in a “piecemeal” fashion, rather than building ongoing programs and dedicated teams, he said.

Other companies didn’t have the staff or resources to keep up with DEI’s efforts, Hollins said.

Then, Floyd’s killing renewed pressure on the role and actions of DEI leadership among major corporations. Between 2019 and 2022, the role of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer grew by 168.9%; A LinkedIn Analysis found

Now, though, some of those efforts have been scaled back and DEI roles abandoned because leaders didn’t feel fully supported, Hollins said: Companies “have a commitment to being sustainable. So she was giving the appearance of commitment without doing the right thing.”

DEI in the workplace can be a mix of employee training, resource networks and recruitment. practices, said Kelly Baker, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Thrivent, an organization which provides financial advice.

In 2023, 61 percent of American adults said their workplace has policies that focus on fairness in hiring, promotions or pay. Pew study this year found

Thruvent, for example, has resource groups for women in leadership, in addition to young professionals, black employees, Hispanic employees and military veterans, Baker said.

Her DEI training teaches employees how to understand and bridge cultural differences in the workplace, she said, adding that Thrivent seeks job candidates with diversity in their race, geography, gender and industry background. does

Many corporations tie DEI to their business strategies, experts told CNN.

Baker said diversity is “related to our business growth strategy. “It’s practical and important for us to make sure our client base reflects the world we’re in and the world we’re in. We are going to live.”

In recent years, DEI has become a social and political powerhouse. stick for Legislators, corporate leaders and conservative activists have sought to call such measures unfair and even racist, some of which have encouraged affirmative action by the Supreme Court.

“These are not neutral programs to increase demographic diversity. They are political programs that use taxpayer resources to advance a certain partisan orthodoxy,” said Dei, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Critic Christopher Ruffo, wrote in a 2023 New York Times op-ed.

Indeed, the ideology behind DEI is “fundamentally anti-American,” said Ryan P. Williams, president of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank.

“The words that the acronym ‘DEI’ stands for sound good, but they are nothing more than another name for affirmative action and racial preferences, a system that has racial headcount and is ‘cruel’ in America.” And ‘oppressed’ groups have arbitrarily assigned roles,” Williams said in an emailed statement. “If we continue to treat democracy the way it is, it will only end in hatred, strife, resentment, and the demise of America.”

Ackman, the billionaire investor, posted one last year. 4,000 word essay But X criticized the DEI, saying “its implementation has an inherently racist and illegal drive even if it purports to act on behalf of the so-called oppressed.” Musk, a Trump confidant and billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, later reposted it on X, which he owns.

“DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it,” Musk said. wroteLater on Double down: “DEI, because it discriminates on the basis of race, sex, and many other factors, is not only unethical, it is also illegal.”

Tesla has since been dropped. All language related to minority workers and access to minority communities in Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Not every business leader agrees: Mark Cuban, the billionaire and minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, pushed back on Musk’s posts. Thread Defense of DEI

“DEI-phobic companies’ loss is my gain,” Cuban wrote. “Having a workforce that is diverse and representative of your stakeholders is good for business.”

Companies that turn their backs on strategies to promote diversity will limit equal opportunities for people who are affected by factors beyond their control, such as the color of their skin, the neighborhood they grew up in, the quality of schools, and more. We face losses. Two prominent black business leaders — former Merck CEO Ken Frazier and former American Express CEO Ken Chenault — told CNN.

“At its best, DEI is about promoting talent, measuring it in a fair way and finding hidden talent and underserved talent in a world where everyone has the opportunity to express their talents,” said Frazier. There is no equal opportunity.”

CNN’s Michelle Krupa, Donald Judd, Caitlin Polantz, Dakin Andon and Nathaniel Meyerson contributed to this report.