WHAT IS DEI?
You would be hard pressed to find a clear definition of DEI, however it is unanimously defined as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Its aim is proposed to assist organizations and Americans in the hiring and retention of people that would otherwise not be considered for the position. To be transparent, the understanding is that the people who benefit from DEI programs are intended to be those who are under represented in the workforce such as minorities, people with disabilities, veterans and diverse religious backgrounds to name a few.
What did he sign and what does it mean?
On President Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order which ended government funding toward DEI programs. What that truly means is that he ended an estimated $5 Billion in tax payer incentivized government programs that paid agencies and corporations for hiring based on race, gender, and sexual orientation replacing it with merit-based employment which will not be incentivized.
Is the Executive Order racist against black people?
Statistics show that white women and men benefit the most from DEI programs and policies. White women held 63% of leadership positions over minority women with the largest increase in board seats while 81% of white men retain Chief Diversity Officer positions. In addition, the white men who hold the CDO positions received handsome salary increases based on the amount of DEI hires they employed without displaying that the new hires performed at or above target goal.
In contrast, around 4% of black women are in management positions while 1.4% hold higher offices. Black men held 3-5% of higher managerial and executive roles total, despite DEI policies within the organizations they worked for.
How does Target play into the controversary?
In 2020, the televised murder of George Floyd was seen as an unjust act carried out by law enforcement in Target’s headquarter state of Minnesota. Target received social backlash for funding nationwide law enforcement agencies, data mining software companies and spy tech startups as citizens concluded that Target was to blame for the murder.
In 2020, Target CEO Brian Cornell pledged to invest $2 billion in black owned businesses and DEI policies and by 2022 Target launched “Forward Founders”.
This program was specifically for black and diverse small businesses in an effort to raise awareness of their brand and assist in scaling black and minority owned businesses.
Target has yet to reveal how much revenue was generated from the sale of each black owned product they introduced in their stores since the Forward Founders launch in 2022 however they did announce that their 2022 revenue increased by 13.3% amounting in a $109.12 billion profit. If they didn’t receive this boost from the black owned products then where did it come from? According to Target, they put together a DEI policy which increased officers of color by 33%, promoted people of color by 62%, and increased women to leadership positions by 16%. This falls right in line with being able to apply for WOTC.
What is WOTC?
WOTC is an acronym for Work Opportunity Tax Credit according to the IRS. This tax credit is available to employers for hiring individuals from certain targeted groups who have faced significant barriers to employment.
Employers can earn $2400-$9600 per employee according to the US Department of Labor and Forbes reported that DEI hiring increased by 123% in 2020 during the course of 4 months. The HR Exchange network states that any organization can align their practices to coincide with WOTC through DEI policies by employing targeted groups based on gender, race, and religion by filling out an IRS 8850 form.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 authorized an extension of the WOTC until December 31, 2025. The money corporations receive to fund these DEI hires comes directly from the American tax payer.
Sarah Hamersma, a professor of economics at the University of Florida sites that there is no substantial data that reflects career progression or retention in the hiring of targeted groups utilizing the WOTC and cost around $500 million annually through taxpayer dollars. Another source cites that New York generated an estimated 5 billion dollars in revenue in 2023. Reddit lists several stories of people who worked for organizations with this tax credit incentive and believe it encourages overturn and lack of quality of new hires.
President Trump’s Executive Order will not only end the misuse of WOTC, it should also provide a bit of financial relief for the tax payer.
Will black people be fired since DEI has ended?
The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits an employer for firing someone because of race and there are several cases that have been presented before a judge with the plaintiff coming out victorious.
- In 2023, a black gym employee won 11.3 million for being fired due to race.
- In 2023, a nurse sued and won $41 million in a case against Kaiser Permanente
- In 2024, a black man out of Atlanta won 3.39 mil for for not receiving employment because he was black
- In 2024 a black project manager was laid off and his position was filled with a white worker with less experience, he settled for 75,0000
If all of this is true, then why are people outraged?
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
With Love,
Mother Ocia