Kamala Harris labelled a ‘DEI hire’ by Republicans: What is DEI and why is it under attack?

WASHINGTON - Since Vice-President Kamala Harris emerged as the Democratic Party’s new candidate for the US presidency, Republicans have

labelled her a “DEI” hire

, implying that her race and gender, rather than her intellect or capabilities, made her ascent possible.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk – who backs the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump – even

shared a fake ad on his social network X,

in which doctored audio of Ms Harris’ voice calls her “the ultimate diversity hire” because she is both a woman and a person of colour. The voice in the video goes on to say that she “may not know the first thing about running the country”.

These are the latest attacks on the idea that focusing on DEI – which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion – is a good thing. 

What does DEI really mean?

Initially, the term was used to promote the idea of increasing diversity in recruitment and hiring, but it has broadened in scope as institutions discover that simply employing more women and non-white people does not mean they will succeed or climb the leadership ranks.

In the workplace and beyond, disagreements over what the acronym means have made DEI easier to attack. The Society of Human Resource Management recently drew fire when it encouraged human resources executives to deprioritise “equity” because it is a confusing concept and instead focus on diversity and inclusion. 

Some companies have started emphasising the “I” for “inclusion”, sometimes using terms such as “belonging” and “allyship” in an effort to stress that their initiatives are meant for everyone, not just certain groups. Others have changed the way they refer to these initiatives, using terms such as culture or human capital management.

How did DEI become controversial?

The 2020 murder of Mr George Floyd by police prompted a backlash against racial inequity in corporate America. Companies made hundreds of pledges to add non-white employees to their workforce and hired a record number of chief diversity officers. By 2022, many large companies were paying executives an added bonus for their efforts in meeting diversity goals.

But momentum shifted early that year amid rising criticism of ESG – an approach to investing and finance centred on understanding risks from environmental factors, social issues and questions of corporate governance. Conservative groups said funds such as BlackRock were pushing an “extreme” social agenda. Prominent Republicans such as former vice-president Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis began pushing anti-ESG initiatives. 

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that so-called affirmative action programmes at college campuses amounted to discrimination and would no longer be permitted. Until then, under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, schools were long allowed to factor in characteristics such as race and gender when admitting students. 

The ruling did not directly implicate companies: Title VII of the same Act bars employers from choosing one candidate over another on the basis of race, gender, age, disability and veteran status, with limited exceptions, and a 2020 Supreme Court ruling extended the same protections to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) workers.

But the affirmative action decision invigorated legal activists including Mr Edward Blum and former Trump staff member Stephen Miller, who have filed lawsuits and issued complaints to the US government around corporate hiring that they say unfairly favours non-white workers.

The war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, which the US designates a terrorist organisation, has raised the temperature of public discourse around DEI. Republican donors and politicians have blamed university DEI departments for promoting ideas that have radicalised pro-Palestinian demonstrators and for failing to protect Jews from anti-Semitism on campus.

How has corporate America responded?

Companies have become increasingly cautious about promoting their diversity programmes, striking words from public filings, cancelling or modifying internships that favour a specific minority group, and eliminating programmes that reward executives for hiring more workers of colour.

A majority of companies still say they plan to pursue DEI in a broad way, but employment lawyers say the companies are also taking a second look at their programmes to make them more immune to legal challenge. Recently, Tractor Supply and Deere & Co agreed to scrap many DEI initiatives after a social media campaign accused them of discriminating against white male workers.

Have DEI initiatives made a difference?

White men have lost just a little of their dominance in the workforce. There has been a small, steady shift from white male executives to non-white and female leaders, but white men still control about 60 per cent of the top leadership roles while making up about 30 per cent of the US workforce, according to federal workplace data.

Numbers from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics between 2019 and 2023 showed that the share of all management roles held by black people increased to 9.2 per cent from 7.8 per cent. Black people, who make up about 14 per cent of the overall US population, make up about 13 per cent of the US workforce.

Does diversity boost the bottom line?

Many advocates for diversity emphasise the business case for it, arguing that a workforce full of people with different backgrounds helps a company avoid group-think. Even many opponents of DEI policies agree with the benefit of a broader pool of insights, though they may disagree about how to obtain them.

A series of McKinsey & Co studies between 2015 and 2020 found a statistically significant correlation between public company earnings and the racial diversity of their executives, but more recent research has questioned the durability and magnitude of those findings.

Executives including JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon have sought to frame DEI as an effort to tap new markets, develop new sources of talent, and invest in high-growth opportunities in ways that will boost profits. He wrote in April that programmes to train and hire local talent in Detroit had helped the bank gain market share there.

What do critics of DEI say?

Mainly, they claim that DEI policies in the workplace have prompted companies to prioritise recruiting women and certain people of colour because of their race or gender, at the expense of candidates who are better qualified. For example, they point to companies that have adopted diversity hiring targets they say resemble quotas – something that has long been illegal in American employment law. Or they say fellowship and internship programmes open only to certain groups offer an unfair advantage.

Some of DEI’s detractors say they want a more diverse workforce but think policies targeting specific groups are the wrong way to get there. They claim DEI has provoked racial animus in and out of the office, and allege that people of colour are being stigmatised as “diversity hires”.

What do supporters say?

Many proponents characterise these attacks as efforts by white men to hang onto power they have traditionally wielded in American society, pointing to still-dramatic disparities in pay, wealth and assets between white men and disadvantaged groups. They argue that targeted efforts are still crucial to level the playing field for people of colour and women.

A majority of employees are supportive of efforts to increase diversity, equity and inclusion at work. An April Washington Post-Ipsos poll showed that 61 per cent of adults think corporate DEI programmes are “a good thing” – virtually unchanged from the same survey in 2023. BLOOMBERG