Not only that, he reversed the federal government’s requirement that contractors and grant recipients have DEI programs. Up till now, contractors had to jump through numerous hoops to prove that they have DEI programs and that their workforces are diverse, equitable, and inclusive. From now on, according to this order, contractors and grant recipients must prove that they do NOT have DEI programs. Since so many companies do business with the U.S. government, this executive order may be the death knell to the DEI mandates that so many businesses have adopted.
To be sure, contrary to what you will probably be hearing, federal Civil Rights laws forbidding discrimination in employment will still be in effect. In fact, those anti-discrimination laws are cited as the basis of the order.
According to the Wikipedia article on DEI, “Diversity refers to the presence of variety within the organizational workforce, such as in identity and identity politics It includes gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, class, religion, or opinion.” Most DEI programs seem prioritize the first four. I have never seen “opinion” counted as a favored category, and “religion” seems to refer mainly to “under-represented religions,” such as Islam, as opposed to the various Christian traditions.
The dictionary definition of Equity is “the situation in which everyone is treated fairly according to their needs and no group of people is given special treatment.” Quite recently, though, it acquired a new meaning: equality of outcomes, as opposed to equality of opportunity. Wikipedia calls this “substantive equality.”
Inclusion means creating a welcoming environment, or, in Wikipedia’s words, “creating an organizational culture that creates . . . a sense of belonging and integration.” This usually involves “diversity training” for employees.
What this all means in practice is not simply opening jobs to people from all backgrounds, but, in the name of the new definition of equity, actually hiring individuals with the favored identities. That is, hiring people because they are black, female, homosexual, or transgender. As opposed to their qualifications and abilities to do the job. In practice, this also means that individuals who do not have the right “identities” to fill the slots, get passed over.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 reads, in part:
It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer –
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
It is illegal to “discriminate against” people because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It is also illegal to “classify” employees or applicants by their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in such a way as to deprive them of employment opportunities. And this is exactly what DEI programs end up doing.
As for “inclusion,” research indicates that DEI training does exactly the opposite of creating a culture of belonging and integration. David Millard Haskell, writing for Quillette, points out that companies have been abandoning their DEI programs even before Trump’s executive order. This is because, in the words of his title, We’ve Known It for Years: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs Don’t Work.
He says that several research studies found that “DEI training actually increases bigotry, foments division, and possibly even imposes psychological harm by seeking to convince otherwise tolerant and liberal-minded trainees that they harbour hidden forms of hatred.”
Illustration: “Diversity Training” by Focal Foto via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
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