Donald Trump’s DEI executive order has flaws but gets the big picture right | Opinion
As Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said nearly two decades ago, “The way to stop discriminating based on race is to stop discriminating based on race.” President Donald Trump’s sweeping order shuttering every federal office related to DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — and signaling a decision to lay off staffers who worked there is an overdue step toward that goal.
Oh, it could have been done with more finesse. The effort needed to include language telling minority workers in and out of the federal government that they remain valued. But Donald doesn’t do nuance.
Trump’s decision has been met with the usual howls from the civil rights community. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson wrote in a statement:
“It is outrageous that the President is rolling back critical Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. DEI programs help ensure that everyone can prosper. It’s clear that President Trump does not value equal opportunity.
“His appalling executive order will only worsen America’s racial hierarchy and benefit the oligarch class. This executive order threatens public services that benefit all Americans; it’s an attempt to consolidate power and money to a few wealthy individuals. And poor and working-class people will pay the price.”
Johnson has the insidious and divisive nature of DEI exactly backward. DEI has no impact on the oligarch class. Elon Musk doesn’t have to worry about whether he is being fairly considered for a job or a contract because of his race. Poor and working-class white people bear the costs of DEI — and it is that cost of quotas, set-asides and minority-only programs and spaces that divide the working class into racial blocs.
And Johnson’s complaints would have been just as apoplectic if Trump’s order were more measured and included all the nuance reasonable people would want. Because the civil rights-industrial complex doesn’t do nuance either, no amount of moderation and good intentions protects a Republican from accusations of the -isms and -obias.
The LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign released a statement saying: “Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect in all areas of their lives. No one should be subjected to ongoing discrimination, harassment and humiliation where they work, go to school, or access healthcare.”
