America Is Undergoing a Societal DEI Course Correction
Supporting the demise of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) puts me at odds with many Blacks today, especially elites in Congress and the media.
Yet, I can take comfort I’m in good company with about half of the nation, they want to see the end of this divisive practice.
In a recent NBC News poll, about half of registered voters (49%) say DEI programs should be axed. They agree with the statement that these efforts "create divisions and inefficiencies in the workplace by putting too much emphasis on race and other social factors over merit, skills and experience."
A close 48% still support DEI programs.
Interestingly, a slightly higher share of voters (43%) say they have negative feelings compared to just 39% who hold positive views or 14% who are neutral.
Supporters of DEI hold the untested assumption that these efforts greatly benefit historically disadvantaged groups.
They are decrying the end of representation targets in hiring and suppliers, quotas in admissions, trainings, and other efforts as the door closing to career progress.
In a now-famous rant, CNN commentator Ashley Allison explained the race and gender-based mistreatment she experienced in the workforce, "I got a law degree, a master’s and two bachelors.
"Probably more education than all of y’all added up together at this table and I have always been the least paid person on payroll at every institution I’ve worked in," she said.
Ironically — her employers included the Obama White House, the Biden-Harris Campaign, and CNN — all, in one form or another, purveyors of DEI.
Allison faulted the absence of DEI in her workplaces.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, claimed that DEI opposition comes from "mediocre white boys that have been beaten out by people that historically have had to work so much harder."
Surely, the 39% of Independents who side with 85% of Republicans in supporting their elimination are not all "mediocre white boys."
Minorities are not even the biggest beneficiaries of diversity and DEI employment programs. The data show that, actually white women are the biggest winners.
Analysis by online employment search company Zippia finds that 54.5% of chief diversity officers are women and 76.1% are white.
Hispanics comprise just 7.8% of DEI officers, Asians 7.7%, and Blacks a mere 3.8%.
From 2010 to 2021, the share of whites in these roles has fallen over 6%, but Black representation rose less than half a percentage point.
The Wall Street Journal’s sweeping analysis of the demographic data for 13 million workers at S&P 500 companies earlier this year confirms some of these trends, "White men have lost a little ground but still occupy half of all senior manager roles.
"White women — a bigger focus of corporate diversity efforts before 2020 — have experienced the least change since then.
"The share of senior managers who aren’t white, meanwhile, rose to 26% from 22% . . . Black and Hispanic employees still make up a small fraction of executive and other higher-paid professional jobs."
Black and Hispanic workers, though, were overrepresented — capturing a majority — in hourly service and manual-labor jobs.
Good intentions can have bad outcomes.
Racial divisions have worsened, not improved.
DEI trainings and programs pit races against each other or demonize entire groups of people. Hiring quotas and representation targets stigmatize minority workers.
Instead of believing that a competent individual gets hired for a role, a racial minority is assumed to be in the role because of her demographics.
As Boise State University Professor Nafees Alam noted, "By prioritizing identity over merit, DEI has sown division and mistrust, undermining the very goal of inclusivity."
Furthermore, the economic mobility needle has not moved for many racial minorities.
America is undergoing a society-wide course correction on DEI.
Some DEI policies are not just unhelpful and unfair; they're illegal.
The Supreme Court invalidated the use of affirmative action in 2023, calling it discriminatory. When elite colleges were prohibited from using race as a factor in college admissions, the private sector saw the writing on the wall.
Companies from Meta to McDonald’s have backed away from or abandoned their once-touted DEI efforts. Even corporate pay incentives tied to DEI goals are quickly being discarded by S&P 500 companies.
Meanwhile, dozens of states are aggressively rooting out DEI from state colleges and universities by defunding or eliminating positions, departments, and programs.
Add to that President Trump’s DEI purge of the federal government.
Many Blacks are clinging to a failing social experiment that they genuinely think opens doors for them.
The data show otherwise. It’s time for a new game plan.
Patrice Onwuka is director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at Independent Women and co-host of WMAL’s "O’Connor & Company." Follow her on Twitter: @PatricePinkFile. Read Patrice Lee Onwuka's Reports — More Here.