AUSTIN — Diversity, equity and inclusion practices embrace Texas’ growing diversity, proponents say, but some top Republican leaders are keen on ending them.
In February, Gov. Greg Abbott’s chief of staff, Gardner Pate, told state agency leaders in a memo that use of DEI policies was against federal and state employment laws. He added that hiring should only be based on merit, asserting that DEI policies illegally discriminate against certain groups, but did not name any groups.
“Indeed, rather than increasing diversity in the workplace, these DEI initiatives are having the opposite effect and are being advanced in ways that proactively encourage discrimination in the workplace,” the memo read.
Experts said that is the antithesis of what DEI does.
“DEI is the understanding that we are opening the door so that everyone, every single group, every single community, is able to participate and engage in our state,” said Angeles Valenciano, CEO of the National Diversity Council.
Valenciano said the National Diversity Council and the Texas Diversity Council, which she also is part of, is a nonpartisan organization focused on using DEI to drive innovation and business success in the state.
“It is critical to understand that our state is growing more and more diverse. That is the strength that we hold, bringing everyone together and being more inclusive, and understanding and engaging with each other,” she said.
The University of Texas System announced this week that it will put a hold on new DEI policies and asked all campuses under its umbrella to provide a report on their current DEI procedures.
Texas A&M University in College Station also recently changed its hiring practices with hiring managers being told they should only provide a cover letter, resume, personal statement and professional references of a potential candidate.
UT System Board of Regents Chair Kevin Eltife said the decision was made because he believes that DEI efforts have “strayed” from their initial intent.
“Imposing requirements and actions … rightfully so, has raised the concerns of our policymakers about those efforts on campuses across our entire state,” Eltife said.
What is DEI?
DEI refers to any practice or policy put in place to make people of various backgrounds feel welcome and supported to succeed in the institution. It goes beyond race and gender to also include veteran status, people with disabilities, members of the LGTQIA+ community, and others.
In any entity but particularly in the workplace, Valenciano said, DEI is vital to the success of a company. Having a staff of diverse backgrounds and interests helps a company reach and retain clients and compete better with other businesses.
“Diversity is not about politics, and it’s not owned by any political party,” Valenciano said. “It is a reality of our community. It is a reality of where we are going into the future.”
Is it illegal?
“No,” said Michael Maslanka, a law professor at University of North Texas at Dallas, who also said that Abbott’s and Pate’s legal analysis of DEI is incorrect.
The memo states that both federal and state law make equity quotas illegal, tying those quotas to DEI practices, but there are two different things, Maslanka said
Equity quotas are illegal, but DEI as a practice imposes no mandatory hiring requirements based on gender, race or any characteristics. It is correctly used to emphasize the importance of diverse recruitment and what entities can do to retain diverse staff, he added.
“DEI is much more aspirational,” Maslanka said. “It is bringing people into the workforce, it is making sure that people who are minorities, and who are soon to be majority, have a voice. All of those things are aspirational, and they’re not unlawful.”
Abbott’s office later clarified the memo, stating that state leaders celebrate the diversity of the state but stand behind the idea that in recent years, DEI has been “manipulated to push policies that expressly favor some demographic groups to the detriment of others.”
“Indeed, rather than increasing diversity in the workplace, these DEI initiatives are having the opposite effect and are being advanced in ways that proactively encourage discrimination in the workplace,” Abbott’s office said.
What does ending DEI mean for Texans?
Democratic state lawmakers and members of the NAACP of Texas said they fear what the end of DEI could mean for Texas.
At least one bill has been filed in the Texas Legislature — House Bill 1006 by Republican state Rep. Carl Tepper of Lubbock — to ban the use of DEI practices in public colleges and universities.
Charles O’Neal, president of the Texas Association of African American Chambers of Commerce, said in a press conference that diversity programs do not discriminate but in fact fight against it.
“Black Texans, and anyone else in any other group in this, have never advocated for an unqualified person to be hired, for an unprepared student to be admitted, (or) for an incompetent, incapable vendor to be awarded the contract,” O’Neal said. “Despite this, there is overwhelming, stark and documented evidence that qualified job applicants, great students and confident, capable vendors have all been denied opportunities to express themselves because of their race.”
Valenciano said she believes ending the use of DEI practices will also have an economic impact. Data proves that when businesses are more diverse, they are more successful.
“As we continue to become more and more diverse in the makeup of our state, it is so important to understand that this is not just about the right thing to do, it’s really about the right business thing to do,” Valenciano said. “It brings innovation, it creates competitive advantage, it outperforms organizations that are not doing this.”
As for politics, David Crocket, chair and professor of the department of political science at Trinity University, said the battle over DEI is just the latest trend in culture war politics.
“I think you see (politicians pushing to end DEI) because these are easy things for people to argue about,” Crockett said. “It’s much easier to take advantage of these kinds of phrases or buzzwords or concepts in a way that leads to the partisan advantage than to try to genuinely reach across the aisle to find out what we really agree on and how we can make something work.”
Crockett said many scholars believe that by jumping on these topics, politicians are creating more divisiveness. He also said that while the DEI debate is the latest example of partisan politics that continues to be reduced to fewer and fewer specific topics, he does not necessarily believe it is a bad thing.
“I’m not quite as apocalyptic as some people are about polarization,” Crockett said. “I think it’s good for parties to have a clear stance on issues, but when the situation becomes toxic enough that people look at people from the other party and think not just that they’re an opponent, not just an occasional competitor about political ideas, but you get to the point where you think they’re actually bad people, they’re evil, they’re dangerous to the Republic, that’s when I think that’s a dangerous development.”