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Editor's Note: The following column was first published in City Magazine.
on monday, President Trump They signed an executive order eliminating the “diversity, equity, and inclusion” bureaucracy in the federal government.
The move represents a stunning reversal of fortune from just four years ago, when the Black Lives Matter movement, Critical Race Theory, and DEI seemed unstoppable. after The death of George Floydleft-wing racial activists blitzed across American institutions, rewriting school curricula, changing government policy, and establishing institute offices at major universities, big-city school districts, and Fortune 100 companies. The Biden administration immediately followed suit, imposing a “justice agenda.” Whole-of-Government” which promoted DEI in the federal government.
no more. President Trump rescinded Biden's executive order and instructed his Cabinet to “terminate, to the fullest extent permitted by law, all DEI, DEIA, Environmental Justice, and All Equity Action Plans offices and positions.” “Actions, initiatives or programmes.” In other words, President Trump has signed a death warrant for DEI within the federal government.
How did we get here? By patiently building the movement and winning the public debate. In early 2023, I worked with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to launch the “Repeal DEI” campaign. We're starting to end DEI's bureaucracy New Florida Collegea small public university in Sarasota, where I serve as a trustee. The reaction of the racist left was severe. Demonstrators descended on the university campus, and left-wing media published hundreds of articles condemning the move. But we stood firm and emphasized that public institutions should judge individuals based on their achievements, not their predecessors.
The argument is starting to take hold. Poll data indicated that Americans support a “color-blind society” over a “race-conscious society” by large margins. Even the New York Times, one of the biggest supporters of left-wing racism, has begun publishing articles criticizing DEI. At the same time, the Black Lives Matter movement was caught up in scandals, and leading intellectual voices on DEI, such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, faced sustained public scrutiny and seemed to disappear from the spotlight.
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He pushed us forward. Governor DeSantis led the way, signing legislation eliminating the DEI bureaucracy at all Florida public universities. Twelve other red states followed suit, restricting DEI programs and banning DEI-style discrimination in their public institutions. The process became a virtuous cycle: Each state that passed an anti-DEI bill reduced the risk that the next state would do the same. The campaign moved from the world of debate to the world of politics.
Trump's victory over Kamala Harris On November 5, DEI's fate was decided. US companies, including companies like Walmart and Meta, interpreted the event as a catalyst for change, and voluntarily ended their DEI programs before Trump took office. Mark Zuckerberg made this clear, saying the country had reached a “cultural tipping point,” which convinced him to halt DEI programs. Zuckerberg, along with many other tech giants, sat prominently at the inauguration on Monday.
Somehow, Trump's executive order on Monday was taken into account, as people knew it was coming. However, it is a crowning achievement for those who built this campaign from the ground up. There will be many battles to come – the bureaucracy will try to evade the system, and there will be more work to do on civil rights reform in general – but for now, we should celebrate. The forces of leftist racism are on the defensive, and the forces of color-blind equality are on the move.
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None of this was inevitable, and nothing will go forward either. It took courage, hard work, and more than a little luck. But this is undoubtedly a moment for optimism.
American institutions are not immune from correction, as many feared. The American people were wise enough to realize that their country probably could not survive for another four or eight years. Government by DEI. They spoke on November 5, and now President Trump is acting accordingly.
