Donald J Trump Guts Federal Diversity Programs But The Laws Still Stand
On his second day in office as the 47th President of the United States, Donald J Trump shut down all federal diversity program websites and laid off all federal diversity program staff, to signal an end to all federal diversity programs. He labels them “forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”
But is this the end? Or just a lot of bluster and smokescreen from a duplicitous, mendacious showman?
Truth is, for the thousands of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) across the nation, Congress passed legislation in 1980, designating that at least 10 percent of federal contracts be awarded to minority-owned businesses. In 1983, that law was authorized for Federal Surface Transportation Programs, or U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) Projects. Congress most recently reauthorized the U.S. DoT DBE Program in November of 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). And while these federal programs have been modified throughout the years to adhere to various Court Orders, they still stand. And all federal diversity programs authorized by Congress will continue to stand, until they are successfully challenged by a court of law as unconstitutional, or repealed by Congress.
Trump Directs Federal Contractors to Comply With "His" DEI Ban
Rev Sharpton Responds With Calls for Private-Sector Boycotts
In one of 15 Executive Orders intended to ban Federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Programs, Trump requires Federal Contractors and Subcontractors to comply with his directives to ban DEI initiatives and instructs government agencies to conduct Civil Compliance Investigations of private-sector companies that do not.
Rev. Al Sharpton responded to Trump’s directive to Federal Contractors and Subcontractors with a call to boycott companies eliminating DEI programs. Rev. Sharpton said his organization, the National Action Network, will engage in a 90-day study of companies that abandon their DEI Programs and target two of those companies for boycotts.
While at the same time, Rev. Sharpton said he will be supporting companies that have doubled down on DEI, like Costco.
Race Neutral Programs Do Not Do Justice for African Americans
They Are Not Commensurate With Centuries of Slavery and Jim Crow Policies
Slavery wasn’t race neutral, and it lasted in this country for more than a hundred years. Jim Crow and Separate But Equal policies were not race neutral, and they lasted in this country for an additional hundred years. That’s a total of 200 years, for those who are counting.
Arguments that contend Race Neutral policies can reverse and repair the effects from 200 years of systemic racial discrimination have no validity – no basis for this assumption. And the people, like Donald J Trump, who believe race-based programs are discriminatory do not believe in racial equality. They believe in white supremacy, and that the racial disparities are proof of this reasoning – legitimate results for inferior races.
The fact is, if we are talking about justice, a word that comes to mind is “commensurate.” Race Neutral policies are not commensurate with the systemic discrimination African Americans, in particular, endured for more than 200 years, and should not be peddled by America’s “Justice” System as viable rehabilitation for achieving racial equality. Certainly, these arguments should not “justify” the repealing of longstanding Civil Rights laws and policies implemented to ensure a more diverse, equitable and inclusive society, and not with the express intent to exclude, deny or cause harm to white men.
That’s my take. What’s yours?
Join The Conversation here at Minority Entrepreneur News.com using this link.