After the killing of George Floyd in May 2020 and the national protests that followed, schools, companies, and individuals sought more solutions to be more racially and socially inclusive. But those efforts have sparked a backlash, with conservative media outlets, politicians, lawyers and social media influencers now opposing DEI efforts in several industries, from higher education institutions. airlines.
In the months following the Supreme Court limited race-conscious college admissionsgroups filed complaints and lawsuits against minority-owned enterprises with capital initiatives.
States like Florida, Texas and Utah are among the legislatures there are approved bans about DEI efforts in higher education and public administration. The Florida State Board of Education recently announced a new rule prohibiting public colleges from using state and federal funds in DEI initiatives. Last summer, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed legislation requiring all state-funded colleges and universities to close their DEI offices. And Utah bill now headed to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk, would ban all government and universities from having offices dedicated to promoting diversity.
Other states have introduced or passed bills with similar restrictions or required agencies to publicly disclose their DEI initiatives.
Advocates of the anti-DEI movement have called such policies and programs unconstitutionalthat focusing on diversity and inclusion only divides and patronizes Americans”white sin.” These efforts are part of a larger conservative push vs. “waking up.” The anti-DEI effort follows Black Lives Matter and the backlash against the implementation of laws to limit what can be taught about race in schools, gaining momentum.
Senator Anthony Kern of Arizona in February DEI likened its initiatives to supporting Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ rights introduced a bill that would ban state and local governments, as well as colleges and universities from spending money on DEI. Kern said there is “overwhelming evidence” of professors scaring students by using public money for things outside of education or advocacy.
“We don’t want public money to go to political activism; promoting DEI,” Kern said.
In response to these targeted attacks on DEI, there is an informal coalition of civil rights, political, and advocacy groups, including the National Urban League, the Black Economic Alliance, and the Congressional Black Caucus. united to oppose growing cries to scrap DEI initiatives in businesses.
National Urban League President Mark H. Morial previously told NBC News, “Most of us business people don’t need to be convinced of diversity.” “We just have to encourage them to be brave and not be intimidated by politicians, mainly a group of politicians, billionaires and right-wing actors.”