The Real History Behind DEI And Workplace Equity In America

Forbes

26-06-2025

The fight over DEI didn't begin in boardrooms or HR departments. It has roots in slavery, segregation, and the long push to open up good jobs to Black Americans. From wartime labor policy to federal hiring mandates, every wave of change shaped how companies hire and promote. Today's backlash is just the latest chapter.
This essay is part of Vanilla is Black, my newsletter about race, business, and American contradictions. If you like this kind of history with teeth, subscribe for more.
Young Adult Man receiving training in arc welding, National Youth Administration (NYA) Work Center, ... More Brooklyn, New York, USA, Fritz Henle, U.S. Office of War Information/U.S. Farm Security Administration, August 1942. (Photo by: Circa Images/GHI/Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
PRE-Modern Black American Labor
But before we go back, let's look at skilled labor to frame things: Construction is one of the largest sectors. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black workers are about 6% of the construction workforce, despite being 12% of the total US labor force. (I use this industry because it's ridiculous to suggest that Black people are LESS skilled by half at plumbing, carpentry etc.) Before the end of slavery, Blacks were a large part (in many states, the largest) of the skilled labor workforce, think carpenters, plumbers, masons, blacksmiths, etc. They were often the entirety of the service economy (waiters, cooks, barbers, etc). Meanwhile, Blacks were effectively prohibited from professions such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers.
With the end of slavery, Black worker slowly began to lose their footing in skilled labor. For example, during slavery, the blacksmith profession was largely a Black profession. By 1900, African Americans were essentially excluded from the job of blacksmith and were being excluded from skilled trades.
Trouble With Woodrow
circa 1916: Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924) the 28th President of the United States of America. ... More (Photo by Topical)
President Woodrow Wilson was known for being a white supremacist. Remember, he screened Birth of a Nation, the violently racist film that revived the Klu Klux Klan. Wilson's administration marked the most significant regression in progress for Black Americans. Shortly after taking office, Wilson implemented racial segregation across federal agencies. Black employees had previously worked side by side their white colleagues. With Wilson Black folk were divided into separate offices, restrooms, and cafeterias. He also fired and demoted Black workers.
When Black leaders protested, Wilson defended his segregation rules as a way to reduce workplace "friction." Wilson rejected accusations of discrimination. He argued that segregating the federal government would improve efficiency.
NEW DEAL , Raw Deals, and the precursor to Affirmative Action
(Original Caption) 2/10/1948-Washington, D.C.: Negro leaders confer with House Speaker Joseph Martin ... More (R-MA) in an effort to remove Jim Crow restrictions from the Universal Military Training bill. The negroes are all members of Committee training. Left to right are Bill Worthy, Jr., committee member; Philip Randolph, Treasurer; Martin; Albert Black, Washington Chairman of committee and Joseph H. B. Evans, YMCA Secretary and committee member. ORIGINAL CAPTION
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs provided some economic relief to Black folk during the Great Depression. However, he segregated programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corp work camps, keep domestic and agricultural workers from getting Social Security benefits. FDR is a double-edged sword for Black empowerment. FDR signed Executive Order 8802 which explicitly banned worker discrimination. "There shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin." This executive order is seen as the precursor to later affirmative action policies. It's one of the first times the federal government acknowledged employment discrimination.
Roosevelt's successor Harry Truman would desegregate the army, using an executive order. Black labor leaders had become increasingly powerful during Roosevelt's administration, and leader like A. Philip Randolph, leader of the Pullman Porters Union, increased their political muscle under Roosevelt and Truman.
JFK Coins Affirmative Action
Civil rights leaders meet with U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Oval Office, White House, after the ... More March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, D.C., USA, photograph by Warren K. Leffler, August 28, 1963. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Affirmative action as we know it today began when President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925. The order instructed federal contractors to "take affirmative action" to ensure employment practices were free from racial discrimination. This was the first time the phrase "affirmative action" appeared in U.S. policy.
"take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." —John F. Kennedy Executive Order 10925
At the time, the term didn't imply much except that Kennedy actually wanted contractors to DO SOMETHING. This was before the idea of quotas or race-based preferences. The administration was trying to make a real proactive effort to remove barriers to fair hiring. The affirmative part is important because the administration was trying to prevent discrimination as opposed to punishing discrimination after the fact. That was new.
'take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." Affirmative action meant government contractors were required to actively review, improve, and enforce non-discriminatory hiring practices. The policy which Kennedy implemented in his first 100 days. Kennedy established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, led by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. This committee was supposed to ensure that federal agencies and contractors followed through on recruiting, hiring, and promoting workers without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin.
LYNDON and DICK Prove Effective
Lyndon B. Johnson shows up in the history of DEI and Affirmative Action, playing a key role in making it a part of federal policy. The policy had meaning. His Executive Order 11246 used the key phrase "take affirmative action" and called on contractors to ensure employees are treated without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Johnson added sex. His 1965 commencement speech at Howard University (aside from his resignation speech, probably his most iconic).
"You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race, and then say, 'You are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe that you have been completely fair."
While Johnson's successor is known for his Southern strategy, Richard Milhouse Nixon was an amazing pragmatic and effective when it came to affirmative action. In 1969, Nixon's administration created the Philadelphia Plan. It required government
(Original Caption) Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement ... More of Colored People (NAACP) meets with President Richard M. Nixon at the White House here. Wilkins is the first Negro leader to meet with the new President.
contractors in Philadelphia to hire minority workers under specific goals and timetables. This was the first real use of numerical targets to address discrimination in employment. Nixon's approach though had levels. It promoted workplace diversity. It also was meant to weaken the power of labor unions that were resisting an integrated workplace. Nixon might be the high water mark for affirmative action beyond the federal government.
I don't want affirmative action - too much affirmative, not enough action. Importantly, as Sarah Gonzalez and I reported in one of my favorite Planet Money episodes, it was the 70s that women were entering the office work en masse, and advocating for union for office workers.
From Affirmative Action to DEI: Navigating the Backlash
By the 1980s and 1990s, affirmative action the policy was under attack, by critics for leading to 'reverse discrimination'. In 1996, California passed Proposition 209. It banned public institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity in hiring and education. Similar laws followed in other states. This is when civil rights and labor organizations began looking for alternative ways to promote diversity.
I
ME.Protest/209.1016.GK–UCI students carry a coffin to symbolize the death of diversity, during a ... More march at UCI to protest proposition 209. Fifteen students marched around the UCI campus for about one hour. A rally against prop 209 was held after the march in which about 75 people attended . At the California University at Irvine , Irvine. Reporter:TBA (Photo by Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
t was in this time that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) started gaining traction. Unlike affirmative action, which often focused on numbers, how many factory foremen are women for instance. DEI tried creating inclusive cultures where diverse perspectives are valued. Instead of race-based hiring or admissions policies, DEI tried to ensure fairness and foster belonging.
Companies began establishing DEI programs, hiring Chief Diversity Officers, and launching training on unconscious bias and inclusive leadership. This was supposed to be more about legal compliance with anti-discrimination but to address systemic inequities and build workplaces where everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
DEI has changed how companies and institutions approach the idea of diversity. It turns out as research suggests that white women have been the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action and DEI efforts. The policies aimed at increasing diversity in hiring and promotions have disproportionately helped women, particularly white women, gain access to leadership roles and higher-paying jobs. Despite these efforts, Black professionals still face barriers detailed in Breaking Barriers And Achieving Equality For Black Workers
'I regard affirmative action as pernicious, a system that had wonderful ideals when it started but was almost immediately abused for the benefit of white middle-class women.' For Black Americans, the impact of DEI has been far less meaningful. Black professionals remain underrepresented in executive leadership, boardrooms, and high-paying industries like tech and finance. The wage gap between Black and white workers has widened. Many companies despite DEI have done little to break down structural barriers Black employees face. Whether it's construction trades that are less diverse in 2025 than 1915 or vast industries such as finance, and media remain locked to Black folk. Black male economics reporters seem rarer than the doo-doo bird.Black Labor & Economic Rights: A Historical Timeline
1619-1865: Enslavement & Early Struggles for Employment
Stereoscopic image showing a young boy with three men in the background, standing in a cotton field ... More with sacks for gathering picked cotton, United States, 1892. (Photo by Benjamin W. Kilburn/Graphic House/)
1866-1940s: Early Legal Protections & Labor Organizing
New Orleans, LA - USA - 03-22-2024: Sign commemorating site of Homer Plessy boarding a train that ... More prompted the landmark Plessy v Ferguson court decision
1930s-1940s: The New Deal introduces early workplace rights, though Black workers face discrimination in employment programs.
1950s-1970s: Civil Rights & Workplace Equality
The Civil Rights Act of being enacted by President Lyndon Johnson, July 2, 1964. Civil rights ... More legislation in the United States, that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women. (Photo by: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
1980s-Present: Struggles & Opposition
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 11: Steve Forbes and Lilly Ledbetter attend the 2016 Forbes Women's Summit - ... More Opening Reception on May 11, 2016 in New York, New York. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage)
To read more reporting like this, subscribe to my newsletter Vanilla is Black, where I write about race, economics, and power in America.