DEI

The Education Department has warned colleges that they will lose funding for any admissions programs that “favor one race over another.” The Trump administration has gone after several prestigious colleges for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

Kanessa Alexander has put up a Juneteenth flag celebrating her business, Perfect 10 Salon, for years. But this year, her father is nervous for her to display the symbol of support for Black-owned businesses outside of her West Roxbury salon’s door, believing it might make her a target.

After the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, many companies made pledges and promises to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion — which included the acknowledgment of Juneteenth. However, when President Donald J. Trump was voted back into the White House, he issued an executive order to “coordinate the termination” of what he calls “discriminatory programs,” which include “illegal DEI” and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities.”

Target’s decision to pull back on its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments comes with a price tag, not just to its public image.

April 2025 marked another setback in a long line of economic challenges for Black women in the American workforce.

Target’s decision to scale back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has sparked a nationwide backlash that is taking a visible toll on the retailer — so much so that the head of Target recently sat down with Al Sharpton to see how he could right the sinking ship.

As we mark President Trump’s first 100 days in office, it’s hard to decide where to begin to assess the damage he has done to the nation.

Last week, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense Fund sued the United States Department of Education. Rushing to defend diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming, the NAACP’s lawyers may find themselves on rocky rhetorical terrain: Convincing a federal judge that the nation’s foundation is fundamentally flawed.

Back in January, President Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to ensure that organizations receiving federal grants certify that they “do not operate any programs promoting DEI,” making clear that the president considers diversity, equity and inclusion programs to be illegal and immoral.

The Trump administration harbors the warped and unreal view that the only discrimination that persists in American society afflicts white people (because of DEI efforts), girls and women who play interscholastic sports (against transgender athletes), and Jewish students (because of campus protests against the war in Gaza).

Grassroots boycotts are proving their power on Target’s balance sheet. On a March 4 quarterly earnings call, Target reported that net sales declined 3.1%. Target sales are declining, and so is its reputation.

I have always been curious about African American history because when I was growing up, the inquisitive kid that I was, there was no mention in my textbooks that we as a people individually or collectively contributed to anything.