Trump slams DEI as ‘tyranny’ in address to Congress, says US ‘will be woke no longer’
"Diversity isn't the reason why families can't afford housing," said Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., in a "prebuttal" to Trump's joint address to Congress.
During his hour-and-a-half-long joint address to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump touted his executive actions to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the federal government.
“We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military,” said Trump to applause from Republican lawmakers and members of his cabinet. He added, “Our country will be woke no longer.”
Trump and his administration have defended their anti-DEI actions, arguing that programs intended to address racial discrimination or disparities in employment, health care, housing, and other areas are “discriminatory” and “illegal.” The administration has cited the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that ended race-based college admissions, also known as affirmative action, as evidence that DEI is no longer “legal” under federal law—which is false. However, similar legal arguments of so-called anti-white discrimination presented in cases challenging racial equity programs for Black farmers and Black businesses have been successful.
“We believe that whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or air traffic control, you should be hired and promoted based on skill and competence, not race or gender,” said Trump, who notably suggested that the January deadly airline and helicopter crash in Washington, D.C., was a result of DEI hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration. He added, “It’s out of our society, we don’t want it…wokeness is bad, it’s gone…And we feel so much better for it.”
In a “prebuttal” to Trump’s address on behalf of the Working Families Party, U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., disparaged the Republican Party’s hostility toward DEI. “When they talk about immigration, gender, diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion, they’re trying to make us blame one another,” said Simon. “But diversity isn’t the reason why families can’t afford housing, and immigration is not the reason why you are paying more for your prescription drugs–billionaires and CEOs who don’t care about you are.”
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., similarly debunked the idea that DEI is discriminatory against white people. The progressive congresswoman told theGrio, “We know that diversity and equity and inclusion are not discriminatory against white people because we know that white people benefit from it too.”
Lee continued, “A high tide lifts all ships, and we have to find ways, especially as the most impacted in society, to cut through that noise, that any time there is a barrier broken down for Black people who have been historically and traditionally disadvantaged, that that is somehow taking away from a white man.”
The 37-year-old lawmaker said “limiting voices” in spaces, whether corporate America or the public service, like in education, “where we limit the capacity of Black folks, of Brown folks, of immigrants, of women, to participate in our society…we’re setting our entire society back.”
Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told theGrio that Trump’s executive orders to eliminate DEI–which are currently being challenged in court–are attempts to “gut” the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One of Trump’s orders rescinds decades-old executive orders from previous presidents that were used to enforce the ’64 Civil Rights Act. “[The Trump administration] tried that with birthright citizenship, and we’re not going to stand for it,” said Clarke.
“We are holding not only the government accountable, but we’re looking at these corporations that have indicated that they’re rolling back their [DEI] efforts,” Clarke told theGrio. “I think you hear it in the streets. You see it in our communities across this nation. Folks are understanding the power of their consumer dollars, and there’s a huge shift.”
The congresswoman added, “We believe that, at the end of the day, this is bold-faced white supremacy, racism, and we’re not going to stand for it, not for this generation or future generations to come.”
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