If there were a contest for the main theme of the first month of the Trump Administration, “Down With DEI” would definitely be in the running: Down with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion! 

Translation: Down with anything that even begins to address and redress the deeply baked-in system of oppression, discrimination, and daily humiliation that has been, and still is, the lot of Black people as a people in America. Down with programs that attempted to even let Black people know about job openings or scholarships or places for rent or sale that whites routinely know about through informal social networks and “connections.” Down with programs that offer medical care to people who had been routinely deprived of such care, forced to live in areas without doctors or with the most run-down hospitals, where diabetes, infant mortality and maternal deaths in childbirth are disproportionate between Blacks and whites. Down with programs that attempt to even slightly rein in the criminal justice system that routinely warehouses Black people in prison with discrimination in arrests, bail, charging, and sentencing that has been shown time and again to be off the charts. Down with even the mildest efforts to do anything to address the deep-seated, systemic oppression of Black people, poured into the foundation of the capitalist-imperialist system since Day One in America, over 400 years ago. And down with any programs in the schools—or anywhere else, for that matter—that dare to recall and teach even a slice of the real history of Black people in America as described above.

That is the program of MAGA.

On his first day in office, Trump revoked a 60-year-old executive order that barred federal contractors from discriminating against job applicants on the basis of race, gender or religion. But that’s not all he did. Trump signed multiple orders to “terminate” all “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” (DEI) programs, or anything that even looked like it might have the objective of combatting racism and discrimination in hiring, or education, or medical care or research, or really any sphere of society. He began firing anyone in the federal government whose job was in any way connected with these efforts, even if they had simply attended an anti-bias seminar or other DEI-related event. He is also threatening private corporations and “NGOs” (nongovernmental organizations) to get rid of these programs… or face retaliation such as getting cut out of contracts or (for NGOs) losing their tax-free status. Government functionaries are doing massive word searches of National Science Foundation research grants to take away research grants that mention words like “discrimination,” “diverse,” “race,” “women” (!), etc.

Where Did These Concessions Now Under Attack Come From?

These concessions now being ripped away did not come from sudden generosity of this white supremacist system. The oppression described at the beginning of this article ultimately gave rise to a storm of struggle from the late 1950s to the early ’70s; first the Civil Rights Movement, and then the Black liberation movement, which interacted with and helped spur other radical and revolutionary movements of that time. In response to this, and other international pressures, the U.S. rulers were forced to make a number of concessions to Black people and other oppressed people. In addition to laws banning segregation and some forms of open discrimination, there were various programs in the public and private sector aimed at overcoming the deep inequalities. 

For example, there was attention paid to treating debilitating or deadly diseases like sickle cell anemia, which mainly affects Black people and thus had been completely ignored in medical research and treatment. There were programs to help kids who went to substandard schools and who couldn’t afford tutors or SAT prep classes to be able to get into colleges. There were programs to help some Black people start small businesses. And in the last five years, there have also been attempts to address racist and sexist attitudes and behaviors in the workplace.¹ But that is not WHY the fascists are on this rampage or what they are mainly rampaging against.

All of this did make an important difference in certain ways. Black enrollment in colleges increased, often doubling or even tripling at top-rated schools. The Black middle class grew substantially. And along with this there was a real change in the social status of Black people and the overall atmosphere—for instance, open racism was no longer acceptable in the public arena. 

At the same time, with changes in the economy and the continued dominance of white supremacy—a fundamental pillar of capitalism-imperialism as it has developed in the U.S.—millions of Black people were pushed out of the middle class and out of the stable sections of the working class, into an “underclass” struggling to survive on low-paying service jobs, the “gig economy,” or the “underground economy.” Police terror has been ramped up. Mass incarceration accompanied these changes—culminating in literally millions of Black people being imprisoned.

And all along, a substantial section of the U.S.—from a section of the ruling class down through all classes—chafed at even these secondary advances for Black people. “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) refers to “the good old days” when Black people were openly treated as inferior and denied any opportunities for advancement. And that is the essence of what MAGA hates about so-called “DEI.”

What does it signify that even the mildest efforts to rein in blatant and murderous discrimination and poisonous racist ideas are seen as a violation of white people’s rights? Their right to do what? Clearly, it is the “right” to discriminate against, insult and oppress people of color, and to do so openly, as was the case until the late 1960s.

But let’s let the MAGA fascists speak for themselves. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has stated that “the single dumbest phrase in military history is our diversity is our strength.” In that “spirit,” he wants to rename many major U.S. military bases after Confederate generals who fought a war to preserve slavery,² and has banned race- or gender-based clubs at U.S. military academies—groups like the National Black Engineers and the Native American Heritage Forum. Hegseth also banned commemorations of Black History Month. 

Then there’s former Trump speechwriter Darren Beattie. In 2023 Beattie said: “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities and demoralizing competent white men.” Beattie also insisted that Black lawmakers and policy leaders (including Black fascists like Senator Tim Scott) must “learn their place” and “take a knee to MAGA.”

After these remarks became public, Trump appointed Beattie to be the top public diplomacy official at the U.S. State Department!

Slashing the Federal Workforce

Under Trump’s direction, Elon Musk and his DOGE squad have begun mass firings of the federal workforce, with the stated aim of eliminating 25 percent of workers. Trump claims that he wants a workforce selected for “merit” and “practical skill,” not through “illegal discrimination under the guise of ‘equity.’”

Federal civil service jobs have a disproportionate number of Black people—almost 20 percent Black, vs. the private work force, which is about 13 percent Black. 

Is this because of “illegal discrimination” against white people? No, it’s because hiring for civil service jobs largely depends on how you do on the civil service exam, which tests every applicant on whether they have the skills needed for the job they are seeking. This exam weeds out many of the discriminatory factors that keep Black people from getting good jobs in the private sector. Civil service is one of the most “merit-based” and least “discriminatory” employment opportunities in the U.S.

Because of this, and because these jobs are fairly stable and have decent pay and benefits, civil service has been a key way for Black people to break out of very exploitative and often degrading service jobs, and a bulwark in the emergence of the Black middle class. Trump’s attacks on the civil service—while they are aimed at advancing his fascist agenda in many ways—are another major attack on Black people which will drive down the economic conditions and social status not just of individuals but of Black people as a whole.

All this is just the beginning of what this regime intends—along with the further vicious unleashing of police terror, open white supremacy and racism accepted, and even rewarded, throughout society.

In 2020 the revolutionary leader Bob Avakian (BA) put out a 10-part series entitled “Donald Trump—GENOCIDAL RACIST” and in this series made this powerful statement:  

Donald Trump hates Black people and everybody who is not a “white, English-speaking, Christian American.” If he could, he would kill off a whole lot of them, and put many of the rest in jail for life, or drive them out of the country.

And BA concluded that series with this:

This is not hype or exaggeration in any way—it is the cold hard fact we are faced with—and it demands that, in the name of and for the future of humanity, we act on the basis of fully confronting this reality and moving, in our millions and millions, to change this reality, before it really is too late.