Sleepy gray clouds peppered the darkening sky on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025, only to disperse when the clock struck 5:00 p.m. The time had finally come for the deadline that President Donald Trump set for agencies to put all federal DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) workers on paid leave—to eventually be laid off for good. This occurred after he issued several executive orders abolishing DEIA initiatives in the federal workforce on his first day in office. DEIA workers were employees designated to promote the inclusion of minorities in the work environment and DEIA programs fulfilled this same initiative by encouraging more inclusive hiring processes. 

While the White House has yet to assert exactly how many workers will be impacted, the number is sure to be at least in the hundreds. For these workers, unemployment is now an imminent risk, one that could be life-threatening in this ever-expensive economy. The Trump Administration also targeted employees who had previously worked on DEIA related programs. However, the administration was challenged on April 1st, 2025, when a judge blocked the firing of workers in the CIA that had worked in a DEIA-related inquiry in the past. 

Trump’s executive orders were like a boulder thrown into still water, creating a massive splash in its wake. Private companies that have contracts with the government were forced to give up their DEIA programs because of the executive orders. This trend flooded throughout the private sector as many other companies similarly relinquished their DEIA initiatives. Coca Cola, JPMorgan Chase, PepsiCo, PBS, Walmart, Meta, and Target are just some of the few companies that will be closing their doors on DEIA.

In addition, at the end of March 2025, the Trump Administration sent letters to European companies, demanding that they remove their DEIA programs. France’s minister of diversity, Aurore Bergé, decried this imposition, stating, “it’s an attempt to impose a diktat on our businesses.” 

What Exactly is DEIA? 

DEIA is an acronym that has floated across the media these past several months, leading to the misconception that it is a modern phenomenon. This is a far cry from the truth. DEIA, which stands for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (also commonly referred to as DEIA or DEI, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) is rooted in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, numerous federal laws were enacted that implemented anti-discrimination laws. Building off of that framework, private and public sector companies began initiatives to encourage the inclusion of minorities in the workplace. In 2020, the murder of George Floyd and the accumulated anger for those who were victims to police brutality sparked a new wave of protests during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Due to the public outcry, companies bolstered their standing DEIA efforts. These DEIA programs were made to encourage workspaces with varied demographics by expanding the communities they targeted during the hiring phase and foster environments where everyone feels represented.  The modern DEIA program is one that integrates not only black and brown minorities but veterans, disabled persons, LGBTQIA, and women. 

I interviewed Porfirio Gonzowitz, a Social Studies teacher at Bronx Science in order to get his insights on the connection between the progress brought on by the civil rights movement and modern DEIA efforts. He teaches ‘Race and Gender,’ a course that centers on examining the different struggles that women and racial minorities have had throughout history.

As he told me, “The DEIA movement is a manifestation of what people feel is the failures of the civil rights movement. I’m very big on an author named Carol Anderson and she [argued]that when we [advocates] went into the civil rights movement, we weren’t looking for civil rights. We were looking for human rights, and settled for civil rights, because we were never going to get human rights.” 

“It was very obvious that the American government and other governments were unwilling to treat everyone–women, people of color, people from the LGBTQ community–as equals, because that would be too much. But giving civil rights, the ability to vote, and the ability to be able to avoid discrimination in the workplace, that’s easier to do.” 

“DEIA took the mantle, saying, ‘Look, we’re done with just settling for civil rights. We want more. We want the ability to be treated like the people that we are.’ [DEIA is] picking up the torch that was dropped; because they had their moment, they missed their moment. So now this was our moment to try to make it happen.”

The Perfect Scapegoat 

On January 29th, 2025, shortly after the executive orders that President Trump made on DEIA were signed, a tragic accident occurred in the skies of Washington D.C. A military helicopter crashed into a commercial American Airlines flight. Sixty-seven people lost their lives in the collision, shattering the worlds of sixty-seven families. In the aftermath of the event, Trump alluded that the accident occurred primarily because of lax hiring standards due to increased DEIA measures at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under President Biden’s tenure. Further investigation into this tragedy has found no link between DEIA and the crash. Retired pilot turned aviation consultant John Cox, and Tennessee Garvey, pilot and chairman of the board of directors for the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, both concur that under no circumstances would the requirements necessary for aviation positions have been relaxed to meet DEIA goals. This was another example of President Trump justifying the firing of hundreds of employees, and the end to a practice that has likely given opportunity for minorities all throughout the country. The use of DEIA as a scapegoat in this instance shows the administration’s inability to keep politics out of such a devastating situation. 

It’s not like this is the first time the right has used DEI as a scapegoat either. Republicans have a long history of blaming DEIA when things go astray. So, what’s with all the right’s hate for DEIA in the first place?

The Right Does Not Understand DEIA

The MAGA superstar himself, President Donald Trump, has stated that his attacks of DEI are due to his wish to promote a society based on meritocracy. This argument stems from a basic misunderstanding or willful denial of what DEIA actually is. DEIA programs, initiatives, and personnel at a basic level are meant to promote the inclusion of minorities. 

This does not mean companies are simply looking at applicants and closing their eyes until their finger lands on the name of one black or female applicant. 

Rather, they are encouraged to widen their horizons and search for employees among diverse and disadvantaged populations, like those in the LGBTQ+ or Veterans. DEIA employees are still qualified. To think otherwise, especially in the case of the federal workers who were fired, is to undermine the due process involved in hiring these federal civil servants. Simply put—you cannot get to the White House (as a civil servant at least) without having the proper qualifications. 

Secondly, the hypocrisy of this argument is quite startling considering Trump’s new cabinet is rife with loyalists. How can the administration cry about merit when the Secretary of Human and Health Services was known to subscribe to anti-vax beliefs? When the Secretary of Defense has a more decorated career as a TV host than as a war veteran? 

Some argue that DEIA initiatives have the consequence of implementing “reverse racism” in which white men feel they are overlooked and disenfranchised while on the hunt for job opportunities. This is not an argument based in reality. White men are still reigning in the labor markets. According to a 2020 study in the Social Forces by Lincoln Quillian, white applicants were 53% more likely to receive a callback for an interview than minority populations, and 145% more likely to get a subsequent job offer. Further research from the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that the unemployment rate in black demographics across five different college majors was at least two times higher than the white population which held the same degrees.

For women, it seems that disparities are lessening but still present. A 2019 study found that in STEM, women needed to have a 4.0 GPA for the same jobs that men acquired with a 3.75 GPA. A report from Mckinsey and Company similarly found that last year for every one hundred men promoted to manager in the corporate field, only eighty-one women were promoted for the same position.

DEIA’s role in the Jewish plight 

More factual criticism of the DEIA movement still stands strong. For example, DEIA programs, especially in college campuses, have been shown to either ignore or discriminate against those of Jewish heritage. After the October 7th attacks, anti-semitism in higher education increased significantly, correlating with the rise in pro-Palestinian protests. Some DEIA efforts and leaders, instead of siding with their Jewish populations and creating a safe space for them, clashed with them. Some Jewish people argue that the reason this is occurring is because in the world of DEIA, white Jewish people are classified as the oppressors of the Palestinians, a narrative that lays the foundation for a fortified wall of antisemitism. A study from the Heritage Foundation, a highly conservative think tank, found that of 741 university officials of DEIA, 96% of them were critical of Israel or outright anti-semitic. While there’s a huge valley between being critical of Israel and antisemitism, this evidence still shows some level of bias against Jewish people. 

Mr. Gonzowitz put this best in our brief interview. He explained, “October 7th happened and then Israelis were deeply, deeply hurt by it. Palestinians have continued to be hurt by it…And I think that that led to backlash.” 

 “Now you have Jewish people that are now saying, ‘well, wait a second, everybody’s all about DEIA and we came out to support y’all when the time came, but now that the time has come for us, y’all aren’t supporting us, you’re supporting Palestinians, but you’re not supporting Israelis. And that created this divide where there’s this huge attack on DEIA; everybody’s saying it’s supposed to be inclusive, but it’s not.”

“So if it’s not being inclusive, is it really DEIA?” 

“The idea of Jewish people being ignored, among other things, got co-opted by the right, specifically as a way of being able to say, look, DEIA is bad. It doesn’t include everybody and this exacerbated a huge gripe where everybody [on their side] is fighting and pushing back against DEIA,” Gonzowitz said.

Why does diversity and inclusion even matter in the first place? 

Here’s what Mr. Gonzowitz had to say: “If we don’t have representation, how can we affect change? And it doesn’t matter what field we’re talking about—I don’t care if you’re going to be a Starbucks barista or whether you’re the chief justice of the Supreme Court—lack of representation in either of those spaces creates inequity that’s going to be pervasive. Somebody that’s not like me…might misinterpret things, might mischaracterize and stereotype me. Those are things that I have to be concerned about whenever I interact with somebody that’s not like me, and it shouldn’t be that way. A growth in representation removes that space or that area where there could be these misconceptions or biases.”

“The issue simply is that the left failed to truly mitigate DEIA’s actual problems, the right took advantage of that, and now we’ve lost the opportunity to improve the programs. [DEIA is] something that needed a refocus,” said Gonzowitz. “It didn’t get it. Now because we missed that moment to refocus, reset and include everybody, we’ve lost the opportunity to do that, because we now live in a society where the term DEIA is so polarizing, and there’s so much hate driven towards it, it’s difficult for it to exist.”

Acknowledging issues in DEIA is the first step in addressing them. The country experienced an overall benefit because of DEIA through its expansion of the accessibility of jobs to marginalized groups and by encouraging work environments where everyone feels heard and respected. 

As much as he may want to, President Trump can’t wave a hand, click a button, or sign a paper to eradicate inclusive policies all throughout America. Even now, many of his firings for other sectors are being challenged in court. By continuing to recognize the significance of truly diverse and inclusive policies, we can ensure that DEIA still plays a role in our society, and that real-life workplaces don’t have demographics that make us question our success in achieving equality at all. 

“DEIA took the mantle, saying, ‘Look, we’re done with just settling for civil rights. We want more. We want the ability to be treated like the people that we are.’[This movement is] picking up the torch that was dropped,” said Porfirio Gonzowitz, a Social Studies teacher at Bronx Science.