The New Yorker:

D.E.I. programs faced legitimate criticisms, but the Trump Administration’s actions make clear that we can’t achieve color-blindness on command.

By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

With Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the long-held conservative grudge against affirmative action and programs designed to upend the effects of racial discrimination has transformed into a witch hunt. In the past decade, conservatives have cycled through attacks on wokeness, affirmative action, critical race theory, and the diversity-equity-and-inclusion initiatives known, now pejoratively, as D.E.I. The target has moved, but the message is the same: anti-racism is divisive and discriminatory and should end at all costs.

Today, D.E.I. is in the crosshairs. Its elasticity has made it vulnerable to a wide-ranging blame game. D.E.I. can be many things, from efforts to increase the diversity of a workplace through hiring initiatives to the creation of affinity groups that bring underrepresented workers together. It may also include workplace trainings on topics such as racism, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment. Undoubtedly, there has been ham-fisted D.E.I. programming that is intrusive or even alienating, making workers feel that they are being told what to think or how to feel. But, for the most part, it is a relatively benign practice meant to increase diversity, while also sending a message that workplaces should be fair and open to everyone.

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