Recent attacks on DEI policies in the US have stirred many reactions. For some the rollback of DEI initiatives is justified as a shift back toward “meritocracy” and an end to programs that were, in their view, ineffective, unfair, and unnecessary. Supporters, on the other hand, view the rollback as a threat to progress toward true diversity and its many benefits, as well as a failure to counteract the fact that labor markets and other institutions are unlevel playing fields in which meritocracy is in part a myth.

In either case, the current backlash is neither unprecedented nor the end of DEI. Throughout American history, progressive policies aiming at achieving equality and inclusion of marginalized groups have regularly been met with resistance and periods of rollback. It is often two steps forward and one step back. During the latter times, progress may to some extent be stalled but not stopped.

The term DEI evokes varied connotations among Americans. Recently, in some circles, it seems to be a catchall phrase used to refer pejoratively to anything having to do with race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual identity.

More traditionally, DEI refers to policies and practices, particularly in corporate or organizational settings, designed such that workforces or other groups reflect the communities in which they operate and which they serve. They are in this way geared to ensure equal access, prevent discrimination, provide everyone resources they need to succeed, and create safe and respectful working environments.

DEI, however, is nothing new. Long before their recent corporate incarnation, there were initiatives and legislation in the US that focused especially on improving the situation of Black Americans and, to a lesser degree, women. There were different types, but their most well-known (and controversial) form were so-called “affirmative action” policies, which were often characterized as “minority quotas” and/or derided under the banner of “political correctness.” For many in the US, the term DEI still invokes these meanings.

In reality, equal rights initiatives that can be classified as DEI go way back. In some respects, they are as old as the Republic, but among the more important early formal milestones was the postbellum establishment by the US Congress of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Its main goal was to provide basic assistance to formerly enslaved people. During the late 1860s, the U.S. passed the Fourteenth (equal protection for all native-born or naturalized US citizens) and Fifteenth amendments (the right of all men [but not women] to vote).

It wasn’t until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s that the next major wave of DEI initiatives, dedicated to abolishing Jim Crow rules and reducing inequalities, were introduced. This included, notably, affirmative action (the term was first used in President’s Kennedy Executive Order 10925 signed in 1961), the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

Affirmative action policies were initially focused on racial inequality and are still mostly associated with race in the mind of the typical American. In the 1970s, however, the concept was expanded to include gender. The so-called “second wave” of feminism fought for gender equality in education, employment, family, and other areas. (Fun fact: women in the US could not legally buy a house or open a bank account without their husband’s consent or a male co-signer until 1974.)

Finally, the 1980s and 1990s saw the inclusion in diversity initiatives of additional groups, including those defined by disability status and psychosexual orientation. For instance, the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, was finally signed into law in the 1990. Later, in 2015, SCOTUS affirmed that same-sex marriage had to be offered in all states and in 2020 issued a ruling asserting that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is forbidden under the Civil Rights Act.

Our current understanding of DEI in many respects emerged during the early years of the 21st century. As the business world seemed to recognize the value of diversity in the workforce, it shifted its focus from complying to the anti-discrimination law to embracing diversity. That meant initiatives to ensure that everyone feels recognized and valued for (not despite of) their background and who they are.

Each of these periods of DEI and similar initiatives encountered severe resistance and, in most cases, periods of rollback.

The Freedmen’s Bureau operated only for 7 years due to opposition from Confederate states, which, by the way, included accusations of reverse racism. In response to the 14th and 15th amendments, confederate states, as well as opponents of the amendments from the North, argued that equal voting rights in essence amounted to “socialism,” as poorer people tend to vote for services (e.g., education and healthcare) that are funded by taxing more affluent people (i.e., which, at the time, meant white property owners). After the enormous progress during the postbellum period ensued nearly 100 years of brutal repression of Black Americans’ rights, freedom, and physical safety. Jim Crow laws, enforced by violence, intimidation, and incarceration, set back the progress made during the Reconstruction Era.

The Civil Rights movement and legislation during the 1960s, as well as Great Society social programs geared in part toward greater racial equality, also saw a period of backlash, particularly during the 1980s. The Reagan Administration’s use of racially coded language and messaging (e.g., “welfare queens”), as well as their wistful nostalgia for the “good old days” of the late 1940s and 1950s, with their traditional gender roles and racial segregation, was part of a general effort to erode the safety net and racial justice.

Second wave feminism suffered a similar fate during roughly this same time. The narrative of “traditional American values” was about gender as much as race. The media in the 1980s were full of portrayals of dangers to family values posed by women striving to advance their careers, as well as dramatic (and false) statistics on marriage and fertility patterns. One of the most remembered movies of the 1980s—”Fatal Attraction”—was an epitome of this narrative. Due to the backlash, the Equal Rights Amendment (first proposed in 1923! [sic!] and passed in Congress in 1972) was never fully ratified.

Finally, most recently, we seem to have entered a period of backlash against all forms of DEI. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion. In 2023, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action college admissions. Mere mention of race, gender, or sexual preference provokes fierce attacks.

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DEI supporters may despair but the backlashes in some respects are constant. These recent attacks are part of a long pattern of ebbs and flows. As more members of marginalized groups have access to education and the labor market, competition for high-paying jobs and social positions increases. Such competition leads to attempts to protect the status quo or revert to times when certain groups had limited access to coveted social positions. These attempts are often accompanied by false admissions that discrimination is a relic of “the old days” that has been corrected. In my next post, I will show that although DEI and affirmative action policies were successful, they did not address all issues.