Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs are facing an overhaul.

The DEI movement became a focus of the American culture wars in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, which sparked a national conversation about race and riots that lasted for months. These programs became commonplace in American government, academia, and workplaces.

The pushback against DEI it’s been building for years, and several major corporations have rolled back their policies since early 2024, including John Deere, Ford, Harley-Davidson and Walmart.

Ford, Lowe’s, Tractor Supply Company, John Deere, Harley-Davidson and Walmart are some of the major companies that backed out of their 2024 DEI commitments. (Getty Images/Reuters/Fox News)

On Monday, when President donald trump returned to the White House for a second term, one of many executive orders he signed on 1 ended federal DEI programs.

A Fox News poll conducted earlier last month found that 45% of voters believe it is “extremely” or “very” important that Trump focus on ending DEI programs. Another 18% of respondents said it is “somewhat” important to abandon initiatives.

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So why is it that nearly half of Americans believe it is a priority to abandon DEI and the vast majority have concerns about the programs? As with most battles in the culture wars, experts are divided on the cause.

Some point to Trump as the driver of the backlash against DEI, while others argue that the way the programs were forced on Americans led to a revolt.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on November 13, 2024. (Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Naomi Wheeless, a Nextech executive and DEI advocate who specializes in issues of race and gender, believes the main reason for the recent backlash against DEI is that business leaders had a strong sense that Trump would likely win the presidency again. He said Trump has been very vocal about wanting to roll back DEI initiatives, and that sentiment only grew as his campaign gained momentum.

“It’s important to note that it’s not just about President Trump being against DEI, but that presidents can have their views,” Wheeless said. he told FOX Business. “It’s just that he’s a president with a well-documented history of vindictiveness. It creates a sense of fear and a sense that whether we like it or not, we’d better fall in line. I don’t think such big prominent companies would make these announcements in such a way public if Trump wasn’t president.”

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Inclusive marketing author and strategist Lola Bakare agrees, telling FOX Business, “We’re seeing a tornado effect of a new administration’s preferences leading to poor, reactionary, fear-based decision-making by of companies”.

President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders at the White House in Washington, DC on Monday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images/Getty Images)

He added: “I encourage people to think about the more nefarious reasons behind this administration’s decision to advocate exclusion, which is the opposite of inclusion, and to abolish a number of programs, even places , people’s jobs, in an executive order on day one. without even looking at the reality of the effectiveness of these programs.”

However, Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist and author, said he is seeing harmful effects from the programs.

“At their best, diversity programs should remind us that everyone deserves to be treated equally and with respect, no matter who they are,” he told FOX Business. “Unfortunately, the trend in recent years, in so many American institutions, has been to turn DEI programs into political commissars, to go after people who have different points of view, and they end up, in many ways, sowing more division in the institution in which they are supposed to help.”

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Alpert said he’s also seen it in the practice of therapy, where patients and therapists themselves internalize so many DEI rules, they get lost in this cultural minefield, instead of simply encouraging fair and equal treatment for everyone. He added that he has also seen patients fear facing the “ever-changing DEI rules” and being “cancelled,” which is causing more anxiety in patients.

Jeremy Knauff, founder of Spartan Media, said he has seen two different reactions to the elimination of DEI programs, and both are equally expected. The first reaction is, “Well, that sounds like a good idea because we shouldn’t be making hiring decisions based on criteria like race, gender, or sexuality anyway,” and the other reaction is basically, “Anyone who isn’t according to these policies they are clearly a racist, sexist and homophobic monster”.

He told FOX Business that, from a public relations perspective, the latter is exactly why these policies are now seen as dangerous and harmful, and why there has been such a push to have them removed in recent years. years

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“While there was a time for policies like these in our past, they have essentially morphed into bludgeoning businesses and individuals into submission on a wide variety of political issues, and frankly, most people tired of the constant lectures and attacks,” Knauff said.

“As the saying goes, ‘You catch more flies with honey than vinegar,’ and these activists have been dousing everyone with vinegar for decades, so the result was completely predictable,” he added. “I’m surprised it took this long.”

Robby Starbuck, the anti-awakening activist and filmmaker who has led the successful campaign to pressure companies to end DEI initiatives, says the backlash against DEI was caused by ordinary people and executives actually experiencing the programs.

“Over the last four years, they realized that DEI was not the fair and equal bill of goods that were being sold,” he said. “In fact, it was the thief in the night that stole fairness and equality in the workplace. The culture of fear of losing your job was the last thread holding DEI together.”

Starbuck says his move scared the crap out of normal businesses because they realized that normal people would punish them financially if they continued down the DEI path. But he told FOX Business he wants to be careful not to say DEI is “dead” yet.

“It’s in retreat, but far-left activists are rushing to bury it in institutions in hopes of reviving these programs when people aren’t paying attention,” he said. “We will be waiting and watching them to make sure this never happens again.”

Rachel Wolf of Fox News contributed to this report.