Within days of returning to office, Trump signed three executive orders attacking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in both the public and private sectors. This sparked liberal outrage and reignited a broader question: what is DEI, and who does it really serve?
Though diversity initiatives have existed since the 1960s, modern DEI encompasses employee resource groups, diversity trainings, hiring targets, and corporate roles like Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs).
DEI gained renewed prominence after the 2020 George Floyd uprising, with advocates claiming it promotes both inclusion and profitability. Yet public opinion is split—an NBC News poll found that 49% of voters want DEI eliminated, and 48% want it to continue.
Does DEI fight oppression?
Many workers support DEI efforts, seeing them as a way to fight oppression. But regardless of what is intended, DEI offers no real material gains for the working class as a whole. The core issues and divisions of racism, sexism, and LGBTQ oppression remain unresolved.
Corporations rushed to implement DEI after 2020, only to abandon their goals a few years later. LinkedIn found that CDO hires surged by 164.4% from 2019 to 2021, then dropped by 4.5% in 2022. Accenture, a firm with 799,000 employees, dropped its inclusion targets after failing to meet them. Between 2022 and 2023, recruitment programs for women and minorities were slashed. In the UK, top companies are set to fall short of putting 40% of women in executive roles by 2025. McKinsey reports that, at the current rate, it will take 151 years to close the global economic gender gap.
Not all companies have pulled back. Some, like AT&T, Pfizer, and United Airlines, have increased executive diversity. But does that matter to the average worker earning 344 times less than their CEO?
Under capitalism, the identity of the person enforcing the bottom line can’t change the nature of exploitation. Companies compete for both consumers and labor, and culture war branding—whether coated in “progressive” or reactionary language—is just a way to win market share. There are enough resources and social needs to employ everyone, but capitalism thrives on artificial scarcity.
DEI was never about systematic change. For the capitalist class, DEI is only valuable when this window dressing boosts their profits. Forbes noted that businesses adopted DEI “to remain competitive and successful.” The DEI market itself is booming: valued at $7.5 billion in 2020, it’s expected to more than double by 2026. Business Wire projects it to hit $24.4 billion by 2030. In short, DEI has become an industry like any other—one that companies invest in or abandon depending on the returns.
Phony “green” initiatives
This trend of performative activism extends beyond DEI. Corporate “green” initiatives like emissions pledges, greenwashing, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) funds follow the same script.
Last year, ESG investment funds were exposed for holding $1.4 billion in assets tied to Xinjiang labor camps. Walmart, Coca-Cola, and other large companies have backtracked on major sustainability goals.
Despite corporations striking environmentalist poses, the US became the largest oil producer in history under Biden. Any corporate push for green energy is driven not by morality, but market competition. Renewables are only prioritized when their business models outperform the fossil fuel market or are linked to emerging industries like EVs and AI.
Class war, not culture war
Meanwhile, workers are crushed by inflation, debt, and a stagnant economy. Trump’s return to power reflects a deepening anger. Millions looked to him to restore economic stability, but like any capitalist politician, he can’t control the anarchic system he represents. Instead, he’s turning to culture-war tactics—his attacks on DEI play the same role as scapegoating immigrants.
Liberals have leaned into identity politics for decades. But their gestures, slogans, and symbolic reforms have failed to deliver meaningful change. Workers are waking up to this dead end. Without a real revolutionary alternative, Trump is capitalizing on that disillusionment.
Attacks on DEI are part of the broader culture war, and DEI programs themselves have helped create the backlash. No matter how sincere individual supporters may be, as long as these policies operate within the limits of the capitalist system, they can’t deliver for workers. They become tools—used by liberals and MAGA alike to sow division.
Communists are steadfast opponents of all forms of oppression, but it’s not enough to support ideas like “diversity” and “inclusion” in the abstract. To fight oppression, we must reject both sides in the culture war. Real gains for Black, women, and LGBTQ workers didn’t come from corporations or courts. They came from united class struggle—strikes, mass movements, and militant organizing.
We don’t need to choose between competing capitalist factions. We need to turn the frustration fueling the culture war against the real enemy: the capitalist class. No Fortune 500 boardroom will voluntarily hand over genuine equality, higher wages, and better conditions to workers. Only the working class can secure these for ourselves by nationalizing these companies and putting them under democratic workers’ control.