All this anti-DEI backlash won't last long
President Trump has stoked the fears of white working-class supporters through a politics of resentment over their declining fortunes in a pluralistic society. The administration has gutted diversity, equity and inclusion policies, abolished inclusive personnel programs in federal agencies, pressured the private sector to dismantle diversity reforms and engaged in a campaign to weed out qualified minorities and women in favor of loyalists, sometimes with lesser qualifications.
The dismissal of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General CQ Brown, ostensibly over his support for DEI policies in the military, is the most recent high-profile firing. Brown, the former commander of the Pacific Air Forces, is one of the few Black officers of rank in an active duty military with a substantial number of non-white enlisted personnel. Black Americans make up 17 percent of the enlisted men and 30 percent of the women, whereas Hispanics comprise 17 percent of the enlisted men and 20 percent of the women.
As Trump’s core supporters struggle to comprehend their declining status in the economic system, the administration seems content to tout the merits of white men and scapegoat others in sweeping denunciations of diversity policies.
On the first day in office, Trump issued an executive order to abolish DEI programs in the federal government. He went further in threatening sanctions against corporations, universities and nonprofits that retain them. The attacks on DEI are intended to reverse inclusive policies on race and gender in “every aspect of public and private life.” Many company programs were implemented after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd; some have encountered legal and political challenges by critics who allege discrimination against white people — against members of the white working class in particular.
The movement has gained support among those who blame “woke” policies as a cause of their decline in social status. In fact, the causes of the decline since the 1970s have been the transformative forces of deindustrialization, automation, recessions, technical retraining, civil rights reforms and the globalization of markets for labor and goods.
Such forces have had profound effects on a white working class that was favored in American society since the days of Jim Crow. Under the segregation laws and entitlement practices, they were at the front of the line for jobs, wages, housing, education, loans and status. Country singer Merle Haggard, the late troubadour of that class, used to describe that process in songs with titles like “A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today,” “Where Did America Go?” and “I’m a White Boy.”
But the politics of resentment cannot undo the reality that the U.S. has undergone an irreversible shift to a pluralistic society. This means that institutions have a responsibility to develop a diverse workforce for the sake of the nation’s future. Yet some corporations began doing the opposite after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard narrowed the use of race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions.
Major corporations and nonprofits in recent months have stepped back from once highly acclaimed diversity policies. Among these are large employers such as Google, Target, Walmart, Amazon, Meta and McDonald’s. Other companies, however, continue to endorse DEI as good for business and society, including Costco, Delta, Coca-Cola and the NFL.
The scapegoating of DEI policies has become overly polarizing and punitive, sparking a boycott against companies that have abandoned them. Last Friday, a nationwide “economic blackout” was promoted on social media as the first actions to punish companies in regression.
The equitable participation of Blacks, women, Hispanics, Asians and gay people in the workplace, and the federal agencies responsible for such interests, should not be stigmatized as an obstacle to white workers. What is needed instead, according to advocates, are policies that promote good jobs, fair wages, education and wellness, well-funded government support programs and civic involvement.
Moreover, the Trump administration has stoked fears over the white working class being replaced by non-whites. In the 2020 Census, about 192 million Americans were counted as “white alone” (which excludes those with biracial or ethnic Hispanic heritage), about 58 percent of the national population. The average age of this group was a startling 58 years old, according to the PEW Research Center, compared to an average age of 11 years old for Hispanics, 27 for Blacks and 29 for Asians. Moreover, the Census documented that the white population had declined by about 3 percent — some 5 million people — between 2010 and 2020.
One reason for the decline is the mortality of the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers. The decline in births among white Americans has been in response to priorities such as careers, lifestyle choices, child care costs, limited affordable housing and the suitability of mates, among others. Yet another reason is the new flexibility for people to self-identify as “white in combination” — namely those of biracial or Hispanic ethnic background.
The Hispanic population is 67 million, with strong growth through childbirth and immigration. The Asian population is 20 million and has the highest growth rate through immigration. The Black population is 48 million, including about 5 million that self-identify as either biracial or of Hispanic background. The latter is growing steadily, though slower than the others.
Clearly, there are too few whites to address the demands of the American economy. Moreover, the white population is rapidly aging and will need the services and tax support of non-white workers. The transformation is irreversible and needs to be skillfully managed; according to the Brookings Institution, white youths constituted slightly less than half of the cohort under the age of 15 as of 2019.
These shifts demonstrate the importance of DEI policies to foster inclusive classroom and workplace practices. Young people will not learn to work collaboratively of their own accord; moreover, they will reject being molded to the American identity of an aging and backward-looking political leadership.
Ultimately, the failure of the Trump administration and the Republican Congress to address the deeper causes of white working-class decline will come back to haunt them. The clock is ticking on the politics of white resentment as the GOP’s base of support fades from the scene.
The future is on the side of the pluralist society. This being the case, it is short-sighted for leaders of government, companies and institutions to abandon policies that develop the country’s workforce and citizens of the future.
Roger House is professor emeritus of American Studies at Emerson College and the author of “Blue Smoke: The Recorded Journey of Big Bill Broonzy” and “South End Shout: Boston’s Forgotten Music Scene in the Jazz Age.” His forthcoming book is “Five Hundred Years of Black Self-Governance: A Call to Conscience.”
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