Where DEI Goes To DIE

An ode for DEI Initiatives.

Once I left full-time education way back in 1992 (not that far away if you say it quickly) I’m proud to say I’ve worked solidly my whole life to provide for myself and my family.

Over the years I have, at various times, worked as a contractor, I’ve been a full-time employee, I’ve been a business owner and, as I see retirement coming ever-closer, as a sole-trader, as I do now with PostScript Eulogies.

I’ve been fortunate to work for myself, for small local businesses and I’ve spent many years working for multi-national conglomerates.

I’ve worked the lowest jobs on the corporate ladder and I’ve also formed and led multi-award winning organisations and everything in between (OK maybe not ‘EVERYTHING’).

In that 30+ years, I’ve worked with some incredible people and some complete …. non-incredible people, but human beings that covered the full gamut of experiences; different races, different cultures, different perspectives, different skills and different ideas.

I think (in fact I know) I’m a better person for knowing them, learning from them, working with them and sharing the ideas we all had to make something better than it was before. I like to think I left the same impression on them.

Many people now call that DEI, I call it being a normal human being.

Since President Trump reclaimed this throne about, what seems like 17 years ago, him and his minions have gutted, or encouraged many seemingly free-thinking companies to gut, their own DEI initiatives.

I’m a middle-aged white guy, I’m not American and I don’t live in the USA and I don’t know the ‘official’ reason for their closure is. If I had to guess I’d say it was racism, or maybe homophobia, perhaps misogyny, but it’s definitely something. It’s for sure something crass and downright wrong.

Whatever you might have heard, DEI isn't just about checking boxes or meeting quotas; it’s about creating spaces where everyone, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality or background, can thrive.

It’s about recognising that we are all fundamentally the same; human beings with unique experiences, perspectives and contributions to offer.

As some in the western world celebrate it’s demise, the rest keep fighting and reflect on DEIs legacy; let’s remember its core truth: we are all equal, we all matter and we all have something to offer - not just to the world, but to each other. Enjoy the eulogy…

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

---

Dearly beloved,

Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, allies and the occasional skeptic who wandered in for the free tea and coffee, we gather here today to mourn the untimely passing of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Those three letters that strike fear in those who might struggle to spell its acronym, D-E-I.

Yes, DEI, the beloved trio that once promised to make workplaces less like awkward family reunions and more like vibrant tapestries of human experience, has been declared dead, or at least in a induced coma, by the Trump administration.

And while we grieve this loss, let us also celebrate the life DEI lived, the bridges it built and the fact that it somehow survived longer than The Apprentice.

DEI was born out of a simple yet radical idea; that people from different backgrounds, cultures and identities could come together, not just to coexist, but to thrive.

Wait? What?

It was a vision that said “Hey, maybe we don’t all have to look, think, or act the same to get stuff done.” Revolutionary, right?

But alas, in the eyes of some, DEI became the scapegoat for everything wrong with the world, kind of like how avocado toast gets blamed for millennials not being able to afford houses.

The Trump administration, with its signature blend of nostalgia for the 1950s and a penchant for dog whistles, has declared DEI initiatives unnecessary, divisive and even harmful. Which is a bit rich coming from them.

According to them, DEI is the reason why companies can’t just hire the “best people” (aka people who look and think exactly like them).

They’ve painted DEI as some kind of Orwellian nightmare where straight white men are forced to apologise for existing, while diversity trainers cackle maniacally in the background. Spoiler Alert - that’s not how any of this works.

Let’s be clear here, DEI was never about excluding anyone. It was about expanding the table so there was room for everyone.

It was about recognising that talent doesn’t come in one flavour, and that innovation happens when people with different perspectives collide.

It was about saying “Hey, maybe we should listen to the woman in the room, or the person of colour, or the LGBTQ+ colleague, or the disabled person, because they might have ideas that the rest of us haven’t thought of.” Shocking I know.

But here’s the thing, DEI wasn’t just a feel-good exercise. It was good for business.

Study after study has shown that diverse companies outperform their homogeneous counterparts.

McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability. For ethnic and cultural diversity, that number jumps to 36%!

DEI wasn’t just the right thing to do; it was the smart thing to do (which might be why Trump hated it).

It was like eating your vegetables and discovering they were actually cake. Note to Self - Might be a good Netflix baking show in that idea.

And yet, here we are, mourning the loss of something that made us all better, like subscribing to someone’s Substack.

DEI taught us to celebrate our differences, to see them not as obstacles but as opportunities.

It reminded us that a workplace where everyone feels valued is a workplace where everyone performs better.

It showed us that empathy and understanding aren’t just fluffy buzzwords, they’re the foundation of strong teams and successful organisations.

Before we all start singing Kum-Ba-Yah in a nearby Yurt whilst eating avocado on toast, let’s not sugarcoat it; DEI had its flaws. It wasn’t perfect.

Sometimes it felt like companies were just checking boxes, hosting a few unconscious bias training days and calling it, well… a day.

Tokenism was a real problem.

And yes, there were moments when DEI initiatives felt more like performative allyship than genuine change. But even with its imperfections, DEI was a step in the right direction.

It was a recognition that the status quo wasn’t working for everyone, and that we could and should do better.

The Life and Times of DEI: A Retrospective

To truly honour DEI, we must whole-heartedly reflect on its journey, its highs, its lows and the moments that made us laugh, cry and occasionally shake our heads and walk away muttering.

DEI wasn’t just a set of policies; it was a cultural phenomenon.

It was the reason why your company’s holiday party suddenly included a Kwanzaa celebration alongside the Secret Santa exchange.

It was the reason why your Chief Exec awkwardly tried to pronounce “pronouns” during a staff meeting.

And it was the reason why your office bathroom signs now feature a stick figure in a wheelchair, a stick figure in a skirt and a stick figure that’s just a question mark.

DEI was there when companies realised that “culture fit” was often code for “people who look and think like me.”

It was there when HR departments finally acknowledged that micro-aggressions are, in fact, macro-problems.

And it was there when someone in a meeting said “Let’s take a step back and consider how this decision impacts marginalised communities” and everyone nodded solemnly, even if they didn’t fully understand what that meant.

But DEI wasn’t just about fixing problems; it was about creating opportunities.

It was about mentorship programs that helped women, people of colour and many others break through the glass ceiling, or at least give them a view of it in readiness of future breakages.

It was about employee resource groups that provided safe spaces for LGBTQ+ colleagues to share their experiences.

And it was about leadership training that prepared the next generation of diverse leaders to take the reins.

The Trump Administration’s War on DEI: A Comedy of Errors

Of course, no eulogy for DEI would be complete without addressing the elephant in the room or, more accurately, the orange-skinned reality TV star in the Oval Office.

We gather to mourn the untimely demise of DEI, declared dead by a Trump administration that seems hellbent on rolling back progress in favour of a homogenised, exclusionary vision of the world.

The Trump administration’s crusade against DEI was equal parts baffling and predictable.

It was like watching someone try to put out a fire with petrol.

Their arguments against DEI are built on a foundation of white straw men and bad faith. Can you believe that?

They claimed DEI was about “reverse discrimination” as if levelling the playing field was somehow the same as tilting it in the opposite direction.

They accused DEI of being “divisive” as if centuries of systemic racism, sexism and homophobia hadn’t already done the dividing.

They also are very keen to insist that DEI was “bad for business” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, not least in this eulogy!

But perhaps the most ironic part of the Trump administration’s war on DEI was their insistence that they were defending “meritocracy”.

Because nothing says ‘meritocracy’ like appointing your unqualified son-in-law to a senior White House position in 2016, or handing out Cabinet seats to billionaires, Fox News hosts and Russian sympathisers who’ve never worked a real job in their lives.

The cognitive dissonance was truly staggering.

So, as we bid farewell to DEI, let’s not forget the lessons it taught us.

Let’s remember that diversity isn’t a threat, it’s a strength.

Let’s remember that equity isn’t about taking something away from one group to give to another, it’s about levelling the playing field so everyone has a fair shot.

Finally, let’s remember that inclusion isn’t about forcing people to conform, it’s about creating spaces where everyone can be their authentic selves.

The Future Without DEI: A Call to Action

In the end, DEI was more than just a set of policies or initiatives.

It was a mindset, a way of seeing the world. And while the Trump administration may have declared it dead, the spirit of DEI lives on in every person who believes in a fairer, more inclusive future.

It lives on in the companies and organisations that continue to prioritise diversity, even when it’s not trendy or banned by Executive Order.

It lives on in the allies who speak up, the advocates who push for change and the individuals who refuse to be silenced.

As we say goodbye to DEI, we must also look to the future, because the work is far from over.

The fight for diversity, equity and inclusion doesn’t end with the dismantling of formal initiatives.

They might be fans of book burning, but you can’t spell President Trump without DEI (albeit in a slightly different order).

Whilst it might not be at the top of corporate America’s agenda anymore, it will continue in the choices we all make every day; in who we hire, who we promote and who we listen to.

So let’s honour DEI’s memory by continuing to push for change.

Let’s challenge the status quo, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Let’s amplify the voices of those who have been marginalised, even when it’s inconvenient. If nothing else, let’s remember that diversity isn’t a checkbox; it’s a commitment.

In the words of Audre Lorde,

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognise, accept and celebrate those differences.”

DEI may be gone for now, but its message has to live on.

If we carry that message forward, we can create a world where everyone, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, or background, has the opportunity to thrive.

And to those who celebrated your demise, we say this; you can kill an initiative, but you can’t kill an idea whose time has come.

DEI may be gone, but the movement it inspired is very much alive and if history has taught us anything, and to paraphrase Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, it’s that progress always finds a way

If you’re not a film buff, the very real Maya Angelou said:

“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”

Thanks to Trump and his cronies, DEI’s light may have been dimmed, but it will never be extinguished.

Let’s raise a glass, preferably one filled with something stronger than the office coffee machine can deliver, to DEI.

You were taken from us too soon, but your legacy will endure.

You were loved, you were necessary and you will be missed. But don’t worry, we’ll keep fighting the good fight in your honour.

You were a beacon of hope in a world of fear-mongering and darkness, a catalyst for change and a reminder that we’re stronger together than we are apart.

Rest in power, DEI and know that your work lives on in all of us who hope for a more equitable world. You know, normal people.

Amen. Awomen. Awhite. Ablack. Agay. Astraight.

---

If you’ve got this far, thanks for reading my post. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please give it a ‘Like’, if you didn’t, give it a ‘Like’ (the removal of DEI initiatives have made the ‘Dislike’ button to inclusive to exist. Bloody democrats ;-).

I publish two posts a week, so please consider Subscribing so you don’t miss any of them (or just read my previous ones for free). Thanks and take care.