Donald Trump, in his quest to destroy all initiatives aimed at creating an equal playing field for marginalized groups, revokes a 60-year-old executive order that prohibited the federal government from using discriminatory practices in hiring.
The first two days of Trump’s presidency have seen him fixated on destroying any directives constructed to combat workplace discrimination. He quickly put all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees on paid leave and took down all the DEI offices’ web pages while indicating future plans for layoffs. Trump has pushed the narrative that DEI initatives and programs are discriminatory to white people and leads to the hiring of unqualified individuals, even though these claims have been debunked. During his inauguration speech, he claimed, “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.” The problem is that DEI, affirmative action, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act were all put in place because many businesses didn’t hire on a merit-based system. Yet, Trump claims that rolling back every measure intended to combat discrimination and promote workplace equality will create fairness.
Donald Trump revokes Executive Order 11246
Trump continued his attack on DEI by rescinding multiple executive orders related to workplace equality. Among the orders he revoked was Executive Order 11246 (Equal Employment Opportunity), which has been in place for decades. Signed by President Lydon B. Johnson in 1965, the order prohibits discriminatory practices in the federal government. It prohibited federal contractors from “discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” Additionally, it required contractors to implement affirmative action plans to ensure equal opportunity for all qualified individuals regardless of “race, creed, color, or national origin.”
On January 21, Trump revoked this 60-year-old order. It was revoked along the Executive Order 12898 and Executive Order 13583, which required federal agencies to address their environmental and health impact on minority and low-income populations and established a government-wide commitment to equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion. Trump also rescinded Executive Order 13672, which is an amendment to Exectutive Order 11246 that added prohibitions of discrimination in hiring based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Most will notice that none of these orders force corporations to hire individuals based on gender, sexual orientation, or race nor do any of them encourage stigmatizing or take away opportunities from white individuals. They are strictly about prohibiting discrimination, ensuring federal contractors considered employees from all walks of life, and requiring agencies to consider their environmental impact on disadvantaged communities. Trump claims to want to establish a workforce based on “meritocracy,” but it’s unclear how making it legal for corportations to discriminate on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, and race does that.
On social media, in response to news that Trump rescinded orders that prohibit discrimination, one user commented, “This is what you all voted for. Congratulations.”
Trump is making it abundantly clear that his attacks on DEI were never about creating fairness and a meritocracy in the workplace. They were about taking away protections from marginalized groups and paving the way for workplaces to take up discriminatory practices.
Published: Jan 22, 2025 03:51 pm