How DEI Helps Everyone—Including White People

Critics of diversity, equity, and inclusion have launched attacks on all things “woke.”

In May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated that the acronym DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion, should actually stand for “discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination,” according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. One former Black Lives Matter activist, Xaviaer DuRousseau, even went as far as to call DEI “anti-white.”

Since the popularity of anti-racism ballooned in 2020, there has been a backlash, or what some might describe as a whitelash, against policies and practices designed to rectify past harms and inequities. This article explores this in more detail.

Critics of DEI have claimed that it disadvantages white people, but the data may tell a different story. In 2020, Goldman Sachs announced that the investment bank would no longer take a company public unless it had at least one woman or non-white board member. But according to a 2021 study on board diversity from Deloitte and the Alliance for Board Diversity, “white women made the largest percentage increase in board seats gained in both the Fortune 100 and Fortune 500, larger than any other group or gender.”

Data also reveals that white people occupy more executive-level DEI roles compared to other racial groups. When analyzing chief diversity officer (CDO) positions specifically, white candidates are hired for the lion’s share of these roles. According to U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by job search site Zippia, in 2021 75% of CDOs were white.

A 2018 research study by Rachel Wetts and Robb Willer found that racial resentment among whites increased in 2008—the year that Barack Obama was elected as the first Black U.S. president. One of the consequences of this racial resentment is the zero-sum ideology that paints minority populations as the hoarders of “unearned” privileges to the detriment of the white community. Many Americans, for example, falsely believe that government assistance programs overwhelmingly benefit Black Americans when in actuality, according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data, social welfare programs have benefitted white Americans more than any other group.

It’s important that we consistently lead with the numbers; having an understanding of the data provides clear evidence that racial disparities exist and persist. If DEI is anti-white, this would be reflected in employment rates. Research suggests that many of the largest companies engage in racist hiring practices. A 2019 study of over 83,000 fake job applications at more than 100 companies, many of which were Fortune 500 companies, revealed that racial bias, particularly against Black job seekers, is a pervasive issue. In 2022, Wells Fargo was exposed for conducting fake job interviews of “diverse” candidates, when the job openings had already been filled; in 2020 the company had to pay $7.8 million in back wages for discrimination against over 34,000 Black applicants.

If DEI is anti-white, when examining advancement and promotions rates among different racial groups, there should be swarms of non-white employees being advanced and promoted at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts. A 2010 study by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission (MLDC) found that Black marines had “substantially lower-than-average promotion rates” within different ranks. According to a 2021 McKinsey study on the Black experience in the U.S. private sector, for Black employees that are hired in frontline and entry-level jobs, there is “a significant drop-off in representation at management levels.”

DEI involves the creation of different programs and policies to address societal inequities. These programs and policies are increasingly being weaponized against marginalized communities, and are being framed as undeserved benefits unfairly being given to minoritized communities. By fighting against and defunding DEI, those in opposition are fighting against their own best interests, dismantling programs that actually benefit them the most.

It is important to continuously debunk the myth that DEI is anti-white. When you interrogate hiring rates, promotion and advancement rates, and access to opportunities, there is an abundance of evidence, research and data that highlights how non-white groups continue to be disadvantaged. Closing the racial wealth gap, for example, could add $1 trillion to the 2028 U.S. economy according to a 2019 McKinsey report. Everyone, including the white community, benefits from a society that has systems in place to support the most marginalized. We cannot forget that all oppressions are intertwined and interconnected—when one community is hurting, it has reverberating impacts for us all.

This article was originally published in Forbes.

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