A new poll shows that many Black and Hispanic Americans believe DEI increases discrimination against the very groups it claims to help. The Associated Press/NORC survey found that about 4 in 10 Black adults and one-third of Hispanic adults say DEI has worsened bias against Black people, compared with about one-quarter of white adults. Similar numbers emerged when respondents assessed discrimination against Hispanics.
Overall, fewer than 40 percent of Americans believe DEI benefits minorities, while at least a quarter think it increases discrimination. Between 33 and 41 percent say DEI makes no difference at all.
The results come as President Donald Trump has intensified his crackdown on DEI programs, calling them “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.” Since returning to office in January, Trump has banned DEI across the federal government and military, and withheld millions in federal funds from universities refusing to abolish such policies.
Major corporations have followed suit. Meta announced plans to scale back DEI in hiring and supplier selection, McDonald’s revised its DEI rules, and Walmart eliminated DEI training while removing race and gender as supplier criteria.
Claudine Brider, a Black Democrat from California, told the AP that DEI has created a stigma: “Any time [members of a particular group are] in a space that they’re not expected to be… they are seen as only getting there because of those factors. It’s all negated by someone saying, ‘You’re only here to meet a quota.’”
