As we continue to support the vitality of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), it is imperative that we remain aware of changes and address the retreat to DEI across America’s legal system and corporate landscape.
Long before “DEI” was coined, the roots of this movement were planted in the 1960s Civil Rights era. Policies like Affirmative Action and equal employment laws, championed by a bipartisan push for fairness, sought to dismantle barriers for marginalized communities emerged from the Civil Rights Movement. Under President Richard Nixon, the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (1972) gave the EEOC the power to hold companies accountable for discrimination. And in 1990, President George H.W. Bush expanded those principles further with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access and opportunity in both public and work life. These were victories achieved through relentless advocacy, bipartisan cooperation, and moral courage.
But today, many of these hard-won protections are being chipped away, driven by narrow interpretations of the Constitution that erode the progress we fought so hard to achieve. After the horrific murder of George Floyd in 2020, the national reckoning around race, equity and justice sparked a wave of new DEI initiatives across industries. Companies took steps to implement programs and hire Chief Diversity Officers, signaling that DEI was finally becoming a priority.
Yet now, just a few years later, that progress is faltering. Momentum has slowed, and in some cases, reversed. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in college admissions is only the beginning of a broader assault on justice and equity. States are passing anti-DEI legislation, silencing the voices of those who have been marginalized for far too long. The very programs designed to level the playing field are being gutted in the name of “neutrality.” But make no mistake: neutrality in the face of injustice is complicity. When legislators and corporations retreat from equity, they send a clear message – that systemic inequality is acceptable, that the barriers we’ve struggled to tear down are somehow too complex, too inconvenient, or too insignificant to address.
Silence is not an answer, and this is not the moment to retreat. If we allow this backslide to continue, we will have betrayed not only ourselves but the generations who follow us. DEI is more than a buzzword. It’s a promise to create a society where every person, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or ability, can thrive. To abandon these principles is to accept a future where the old, oppressive structures of exclusion are allowed to persist.
We must fight – not with anger, but with the fierce urgency of now. As Dr. Martin Luther King once reminded us, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” In moments like this, we cannot afford to have our voices silenced by those who wish to turn back the clock. We must speak up, demand funding, and secure resources necessary to advance the work of equity and inclusion.
I would borrow his words again and remind all of us that “we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.” The decisions we make now – whether to stand and fight for equity or to quietly retreat – will shape the future for all of us. Let us not fail this moment.
Be Steadfast!
Lenwood V. Long, Sr, Chief Executive Officer
African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs
