Around this time last year, large companies were beginning to pull back from efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, within their companies, as experts worried that the energy behind the initiative, which had gained momentum after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, was waning.
Since then, things have only gotten more complicated: In June, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in higher education, igniting a DEI backlash, dozens of bills targeting DEI initiatives at public universities are pending across the country, and there has been a surge in lawsuits alleging that the tactics private companies use to address inequality constitute discrimination.
There's no clear consensus on how the court's decision will affect the business world, but Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX and other tech companies, tweeted this month that “DEI must die.” He added that “it's about eliminating discrimination, not replacing one discrimination with another.” (Musk did not respond to a request for comment.)
The lawsuits targeting diversity efforts “are an attempt to force a ban on all affirmative action into law, even though no court has said that,” said Neal Katyal, a former corporate lawyer in the Obama administration. Katyal is representing Hello Alice, a free online platform that helps businesses start and grow, in a lawsuit aimed at blocking a grant program for Black-owned small businesses.
The growing backlash has led some companies to reassess their policies, while others have dropped programs to avoid legal trouble. Experts say the debate over DEI is likely to intensify as legal battles play out in court and political tensions rise ahead of the presidential election.
Here's what you need to know about 2024 and what changes are likely to come.
