What is DEI and why is Donald Trump batting against DEI policies? (original) (raw)
In his second term as President of the United States, Donald Trump has moved to dismantle the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies initiated by his predecessor Joe Biden.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed this view in a post on X last week, when he said he would not be attending the G20 Summit in South Africa this year, citing (among other things) its promotion of “solidarity, equality, & sustainability”. He equated these to “DEI and climate change” – issues the Trump Administration has rallied against. Here is what to know.
First, what is DEI?
Put simply, DEI refers to policies that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability.
Biden in June 2021 passed an executive order titled ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce’, which defined these terms as follows:
Diversity: The practice of including the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and beliefs of the American people, including underserved communities.
Equity: The consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment.
Inclusion: The recognition, appreciation, and use of the talents and skills of employees of all backgrounds.
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The order also sought to include accessibility, defining it as “the design, construction, development, and maintenance of facilities, information and communication technology, programs, and services so that all people, including people with disabilities, can fully and independently use them.”
Is DEI new?
The call to diversify workplaces and make them more inclusive is not new. Such efforts date back to World War II (1939-45), when US President Franklin D Roosevelt banned racial discrimination in hiring defence contractors. This was taken forward by the civil rights movement of the 1960s, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banning employment discrimination based on race, colour, sex, religion and other criteria.
The Civil Rights Act of1964 officially banned any employer from discriminating based on race, colour, sex, religion, and other criteria. This did not, however, lead to women, queer persons, or Black and Brown people automatically receiving the kind of opportunities that historically more privileged groups did.
Organisations, at times of their own volition, at times pushed by the government, had to make a concerted effort to hire a more diverse workforce. According to a 2019 article in Time magazine, especially since “Trump’s election, and with the emergence of movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter”, DEI has “exploded”.
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The Black Lives Matter movement itself arose in 2015 in opposition to continued violence against black Americans. The killing of George Floyd in June 2020 at the hands of a police officer revived the movement in earnest. This led to a surge in companies clamouring to position themselves as anti-racist. Many companies endeavoured to rebrand themselves as inclusive and attuned to the needs of their diverse consumer base.
This seemed to work well at the time. A May 2023 Pew Research Center survey reported that 56% of US workers favourably viewed efforts to boost DEI in the workplace.
Why is Trump opposed to DEI?
Right from his election as president for the first time in 2016, Trump has come to be seen as representing the backlash from a section of American conservatives against progressive politics and policies. For them, actions such as DEI are discriminatory against white citizens
Some have also made DEI a scapegoat for other issues. Recently, following the mid-air collision of an American Airlines flight with a military helicopter, Trump alleged that this had directly resulted from DEI-centric hiring practices. However, no official reason has been cited for the incident so far.
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Given the wide-ranging powers of the US President, including appointing Supreme Court judges, such views have also impacted wider US policy. Notably, the three conservative Supreme Court appointees made by Trump in his first term were key in striking down affirmative action in college admissions in 2023.
On the other hand, companies have not responded unanimously to changes under the new Trump administration. Meta, Amazon and Google have rolled back their DEI initiatives while Apple, Costco, Goldman Sachs and Cisco have reinforced their commitment to DEI. Some, like McDonalds, have renamed their DEI initiatives. For many, it is becoming difficult to justify the financial viability of these measures to shareholders.
What DEI policies has Trump banned?
On his first day of office, Trump signed around 80 executive orders. EO 14151, titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing”, was aimed at DEI in federal agencies. The order directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to supervise the end of DEI initiatives, and required agencies to report employees involved in DEI and “environmental justice” roles within 60 days.
A day later, he passed EO 141713, titled ‘Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity’. Among other things, it struck down sections of the 1965 Equal Employment Opportunity Act to discourage federal departments and agencies from awarding contracts to companies with DEI policies.
Does India have DEI policies?
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A systematic approach to DEI is not currently practised in India, given that its origins in the US were motivated by different socioeconomic factors. However, policies aimed at fostering affirmative action and social inclusion and correcting the harms of the caste system have long existed.
The Indian Constitution mandated reservations for communities identified as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes way back in 1950. The Mandal Commission recommended reservations for Other Backward Communities in 1990. Under Article 16 of the Constitution, the state cannot discriminate against people in public employment based on their religion, caste, sex, or place of birth.
Company-wide efforts at DEI inclusion in India have largely been in response to public interest in movements like #MeToo or the decriminalisation of homosexuality under Section 377.