This Debate Isn’t About DEI -- it's About Power. Here's Why.

A historian unpacks the deeper forces at play.

In late January, a tragic mid-air collision between an American Airlines flight and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C. killed 67 people.

Who knew it would turn into a debate on diversity?

President Trump quickly speculated that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) might have been the cause of the crash.

Challenged by a reporter as to how he came to the conclusion with little evidence to go on, he shot back, “Because I have common sense. OK? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.”

"We want the most competent people. We don't care what race they are," the president said at a briefing. "If they don't have a great brain, a great power of the brain, they're not going to be very good at what they do and bad things will happen.”

When a journalist asked Trump if he was saying that DEI caused the crash, he replied, “It just could have been. We have a high standard. We've had a higher, much higher standard than anybody else.”

DEI has become a boogeyman in the federal government, often blamed for every ill. The truth is that it’s a smokescreen to justify efforts to undo decades of civil rights progress.

I have a PhD in US history with a specific focus on race, religion, and social movements. I’ve studied the origins of racism and white supremacy, and one clear pattern emerges: for every gesture toward racial progress there is a swift and angry backlash – or “whitelash.”

Dr. Jemar Tisby

While DEI is the latest label, efforts to shut down programs that help historically excluded groups are nothing new.

It happened after Reconstruction during the Redemption era. It happened again when the Religious Right rose in response to the Civil Rights movement. And it’s happening now in retaliation against the first Black president, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the historic racial justice protests of 2020.

The best inoculation against a lie is the truth. What follows is the truth about DEI – where it came from, what it means, and why the far-right is so determined to put an end to it.

Defining DEI

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three different but connected ideas, and all are necessary for a fair organization.

Diversity is about having people with different identities, backgrounds, and perspectives. This includes things like gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, and socioeconomic origins.

Equity means making sure everyone has fair treatment, opportunities, and access to success. It recognizes that some groups have had advantages while others have faced obstacles, and it works to close those gaps.

Inclusion is about creating an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and has a sense that their presence makes a difference. It’s not enough to have a diverse group of people – everyone should have a voice and be able to fully participate in the life and decisions of the organization.

Robert Sellers, former chief diversity officer at the University of Michigan, compares DEI to a high school dance.

He says, “Diversity is where everyone is invited to the party. Equity means that everyone gets to contribute to the playlist. Inclusion means that everyone has the opportunity to dance.”

Origins and Development of DEI

The origins of DEI go back at least to the 1960s with laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The law also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to stop discrimination in the workplace.

Over time, terms like multiculturalism emerged to describe efforts to bring more diversity into organizations. Companies and government agencies set up offices dedicated to developing strategies and best practices to promote fairness and inclusion.

Both businesses and the government realized that having teams with different backgrounds and experiences made them stronger and more effective. Some organizations took steps to build a more diverse workforce by:

• Recruiting in different cities and schools to reach a wider range of applicants.

• Changing hiring and selection processes to reduce bias.

• Offering training programs to raise awareness about racism, sexism, and other issues that have historically disadvantaged certain groups.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which Trump and others criticized for supposedly lowering standards to support DEI, started a program in 2019 to create more opportunities for people with disabilities in the organization.

This program trained up to 20 people at different facilities across the country. But what it did not do is lower the qualifications or training standards in any way.

“The candidates in this program will receive the same rigorous consideration in terms of aptitude, medical and security qualifications as those individuals considered for a standard public opening for air traffic controller jobs,” the FAA said in a news release. Including more people in an organization is not the equivalent of lowering standards.

DEI initiatives also support military veterans

In 1974, lawmakers passed the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) to prevent job discrimination for disabled veterans. As a group, they’re called “protected veterans.”

VEVRAA requires the government to:

• Actively recruit disabled veterans.

• Ensure government contractors follow hiring rules.

• Track how well recruitment efforts are working.

• Give veterans the option to self-identify as a “protected veteran.”

Opposition to DEI

But these DEI efforts have not just waned in popularity as of late. They’ve been met with a considerable backlash.

DEI efforts have always had mixed results, and some programs – especially things like mandatory training – have faced criticism.

In the first few weeks of Trump’s second presidency, federal employees working in DEI offices were placed on paid leave. Trump also signed an executive order to eliminate what he called “discriminatory and illegal DEI-related policies and programs.”

Opposition to DEI largely comes from fear – some white people feel uneasy about the country’s rapidly changing demographics, and some political and business leaders have used that fear to push an anti-DEI agenda.

The motivation comes from the sense among some that minorities have taken all their opportunities, and hiring, placing, or promoting “those people” puts both their lives and livelihoods at risk.

They argue that reverse discrimination is happening, and that certain groups are getting an unfair advantage over white people.

For some, the thinking goes: How is a straight, white man supposed to compete when minorities, who clearly aren’t qualified, are getting hired just because they check all the right “woke” boxes?

This opposition isn’t new.

Throughout history, white people have blamed marginalized groups for taking what they see as their “rightful” place in society. After a violent coup in 1898, when a white mob overthrew elected Black and white officials in Wilmington, North Carolina, the new and unjustly installed politicians released a statement.

They called it the “White Declaration of Independence,” accusing Black politicians of taking jobs away from white people.

“We propose in the future to give the white men a large part of the employment heretofore given to negroes, because we realize that white families cannot thrive here unless there are more opportunities for the different members of said family,” they said.

The notion that Black people were “given” jobs they didn’t deserve has fueled both historical and modern-day opposition to DEI initiatives.

Equity, Equality, and Discrimination

DEI opponents are correct on one count – discrimination is happening. But it’s the type of discrimination meant to fix historic injustices, not perpetuate them.

In his book Where Do We Go From Here?, Martin Luther King wrote: “A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him, in order to equip him to compete on a just and equal basis.”

This is why it’s important to understand the difference between equity and equality.

Opponents of DEI say they want everyone to be treated equally, meaning “the same.” But people from different backgrounds have different histories and challenges that need to be considered.

Equity means treating everyone fairly. But fair doesn’t always mean the same.

Imagine a racetrack. In races like the 200- or 400-meter sprint, runners don’t all start from the same spot—their starting lines are staggered.

At first, this might look unfair. But it’s actually the opposite.

The runners in the outer lanes have a longer distance to cover because of the curve of the track. To make the race fair, they start further ahead than those in the inner lanes.

So even though the runners don’t all start from the same place, this “unequal” setup gives everyone a fair shot at winning.

In the U.S., white people have had the “inside track” in society because of racism. To fix this unfairness, we have to adjust the starting lines so that historically marginalized groups have a real chance to compete.

The Fear of a More Just Society

The fight against DEI isn’t really about fairness or stopping discrimination –it’s about maintaining control. Opponents of DEI say they want a “colorblind” society, but they ignore the fact that color has always mattered when it comes to who gets opportunities and who gets left behind.

They claim they want a merit-based society, but they won’t admit that for generations, many white people got ahead not because they were most qualified, but simply because of their light skin.

In February, during Black History Month, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. from his position as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown was only the second Black person to hold the position.

Far-right critics turned against Brown after he showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement following George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.

To replace him, Trump nominated Lt. General Dan Caine. Like Brown, Caine was a fighter pilot with combat and special operations experience.

But unlike Brown, Caine lacks the qualifications typically required for the chairman position. The job usually goes to someone who has served as vice chairman or as the highest ranking officer in a branch of the military.

In this case, and in many throughout history, the white person with fewer qualifications was given the job, instead of the Black person with more. When it comes to hiring under-qualified people because of race, history shows us it’s usually white people who benefit.

DEI isn’t the real threat—fear is.

Fear of change. Fear of losing unearned advantages. Fear of a world where success is truly determined by achievement and opportunity, rather than legacy and privilege.

The truth about DEI is that its opponents – the people who now whine the loudest about merit and equality – are the most afraid of a fair fight and real competition.