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In one of his first executive orders since his return to office, President Donald Trump placed all U.S. government staff involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programs on immediate paid administrative leave before ordering that the associated offices and programs be shut down completely within 60 days.
Trump called the programs “dangerous, demeaning and immoral” after pledging to “forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based” in his inaugural address. According to the BBC, the order also repeals a “civil-rights-era executive order, signed by former President Lyndon B Johnson, that made it illegal for federal contractors to discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex or national origin when hiring.”
The move is reminiscent of Senate Bill 129, the piece of legislation signed into law by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey last year which effectively outlawed all DEI programs at public universities in the state in the name of curtailing “divisive concepts.” SB129 is now being challenged in federal court by a group of Alabama students and educators who claim that the law is unconstitutional.
“SB 129 is among the most egregious infringements on the rights of students to receive the quality of education they deserve,” said Alabama professor Cassandra Simon, a plaintiff in the case. “While the law’s vague and opaque language promote uncertainty and fear on campus, it also prevents the full elimination of white supremacy and its lingering impact in present-day Alabama. Inclusive curriculum and campus spaces are undeniably a strength in higher education, and, as a professor, I’ve witnessed how teaching and engaging with some of these so-called ‘divisive concepts’ can be transformative for both professors and students.
“The state legislative body has no right to censor and vilify these important and legitimate topics in our classrooms. If this discriminatory legislation is allowed to continue, elected officials—with no expertise in matters of higher education—will become emboldened to further impose their viewpoints on the university communities. As a professor who has spent the past 37 years educating students and supporting the wellbeing of our campus communities, I have a moral and ethical responsibility to my students, colleagues, and society at large to speak out against SB 129,” Simon stated.
APR has also reported that since SB129’s passage, LGBTQ+ students, as well as students and teachers of color, say they have been harmed by the censorship of certain teachings and discussions involving race-based and sex-based inequalities. These groups have also experienced discriminatory restrictions on university funding for student organizations and the removal of inclusive campus spaces that had served minority students for several years.
Although Gov. Ivey and her fellow Alabama Republicans have largely supported the abolition of DEI initiatives in the state, some political leaders in Alabama have spoken out against SB129 and the war against DEI writ large. One of those leaders is Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who criticized both SB129 and Trump’s attacks on federal DEI programming in a recent appearance on CNN This Morning.
Woodfin called Trump’s executive orders the “Alabama-fication” of the United States federal government and suggested that DEI policies actually greatly benefit groups outside of Black Americans and other minorities, including White women and veterans.
“When you say you don’t want to have programs that support veterans, when you say you don’t want to have programs that support women, etc., what message and who are you trying to communicate? And so it’s beyond frustrating and disappointing. It just goes to show you that 47 told us what he would do, and he’s doing it,” Woodfin said.
“Inclusion is not a bad thing. There is no such thing as going too far as it relates to being inclusive,” he continued. “There’s no such thing as going too far as it relates to equity. This is America. Equity is the right thing to do. There’s no such thing as diversity being bad. America is a very diverse place. I think Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has been weaponized for some to use to say it’s taken away from others.”
Mayor Woodfin made it clear that Alabama laid the blueprint for what Americans are now seeing take place on a national level.
“Listen, the unfortunate part of this conversation of stripping DEI–Americans are witnessing the Alabama-fication of federal government,” he said. “We’ve seen in Alabama, legislators create laws to get rid of DEI, and the governor signing into law, that remove DEI from colleges and universities and other aspects throughout the state. And so we’ve seen this dance [before].”
