Latest news with #anti-White
USA Today
5 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
The Supreme Court just made it easier for White workers to sue for bias. Here's why.
The Supreme Court just made it easier for White workers to sue for bias. Here's why. A Supreme Court ruling making it easier for "majority" groups such as white people and men to sue for on-the-job bias is expected to unleash a new wave of reverse discrimination claims. Show Caption Hide Caption SCOTUS ruling on 'reverse discrimination' civil rights case The Supreme Court justices questioned whether an extra hurdle for people of "majority backgrounds" is required to prove discrimination. For decades, men, straight people and White people were often held to a higher legal standard when bringing workplace bias claims than groups that historically faced discrimination. No longer. The Supreme Court this week made it easier for members of so-called 'majority groups' to sue for discrimination by siding with an Ohio woman, Marlean Ames, who claimed she twice lost jobs to lesser-qualified gay candidates because she is straight. Federal civil rights law does not distinguish between members of majority and minority groups, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in the unanimous decision striking down the standard used in nearly half of federal circuit courts. Legal experts say the closely watched ruling could spur more reverse discrimination complaints at a moment when workplace diversity equity and inclusion programs are already under threat from the Trump administration. 'The ruling certainly puts employers on notice that discrimination against 'majority' employees is just as unlawful as discrimination against minority employees,' said William Jacobson, Cornell University law professor and founder of the Equal Protection Project, an advocacy group that opposes race-based policies. 'There is no safe haven or carve-out for so-called 'reverse discrimination.'' Employers will have to change how they approach discrimination claims, said Johnny C. Taylor Jr., CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management. While the rules were enforced equally, the level of response was often different based on who brought a bias claim, he said. 'Theoretically everyone understood that you should not discriminate against anyone in the workplace. In practice, however, our focus was on historically underrepresented groups and that has an effect within an organization,' Taylor said. 'You don't take as seriously a White guy who comes in and says 'I was discriminated against in the workplace.'' David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at the NYU School of Law, downplayed the impact, arguing the high court's decision "will put some wind in the sails of anti-DEI activists" and could lead to a "a slight uptick in reverse discrimination lawsuits." But, he said, "I think the uptick in such lawsuits will have far more to do with the current political environment than with this SCOTUS decision.' Trump's war on 'anti-White' bias President Donald Trump campaigned against DEI for creating 'anti-White feeling' and, on his first day back in the White House, he made it a priority of his administration to wipe out such initiatives, from purging DEI from the federal government and the military, threatening to strip billions of dollars in federal funding and grants from universities and pressuring major corporations to roll back programs or risk losing federal contracts. The president also tapped Andrea Lucas, a vocal DEI critic, to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has broad sway over employers. Lucas pledged to restore 'evenhanded enforcement of employment civil rights laws for all Americans' including "unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination.' 'I intend to dispel the notion that only the 'right sort of' charging party is welcome through our doors,' Lucas said in a statement following her appointment. Though White workers account for about two-thirds of the U.S. workforce, their discrimination claims make up only about 10% of race-based claims, according to data USA TODAY obtained in 2023 from the EEOC. Legal experts expect a wave of new claims with the EEOC and in courts across the country in coming months. 'The administration is encouraging people to file complaints regarding 'unlawful DEI-related discrimination' and making such claims an enforcement priority,' Glasgow said. What is reverse discrimination? In recent years, critics like White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller have revived the concept of reverse discrimination. It first emerged in the 1970s in response to civil rights laws aimed at remedying structural inequalities in the workplace. Miller's America First Legal advocacy organization, which has issued dozens of legal challenges on behalf of White workers, argues that DEI programs deny opportunities to White Americans by focusing on race at the expense of merit. In the Ames case, America First Legal wrote in a friend of the court brief it is 'highly suspect in this age of hiring based on 'diversity, equity, and inclusion'' that majority groups are subjected to less discrimination than minority groups. In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas cited America First Legal's brief. 'A number of this nation's largest and most prestigious employers have overtly discriminated against those they deem members of so-called majority groups,' Thomas wrote. America First Legal Senior Counsel Nick Barry said the Supreme Court ruling 'should serve as a clear call for conservative litigators to continue to press for the rule of law.' DEI prevents bias, supporters say DEI initiatives swept through corporate America and the federal government after George Floyd's 2020 murder. At first, these initiatives to combat discrimination and increase the persistently low percentage of female, Black and Hispanic executives seemed to get results. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of Black executives rose by nearly 27% in S&P 100 companies, according to a USA TODAY analysis of workforce data collected by the federal government. But a forceful backlash reframed DEI as illegal discrimination. In 2023, the ranks of Black executives fell 3% from the prior year at twice the rate of White executives, USA TODAY found. Supporters say DEI policies and programs are critical in preventing discrimination, complying with civil rights laws and in creating workplaces that are more welcoming to everyone. Far from being at odds with merit, they help ensure that individuals are rewarded based on their qualifications alone, they say. The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund urged the court to rule against Ames. In a statement, the organization said the Supreme Court 'did not disturb important, existing legal standards under Title VII or reject the idea that courts may consider the unfortunate realities of how discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, Black communities and other historically marginalized groups operates in America.' 'Nothing in the Supreme Court's opinion today should be misunderstood to mean that majority groups are now at an advantage when taking their discrimination claims to court,' Avatara Smith-Carrington, assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, said. 'Of course everyone is protected by Title VII; however, there is a persisting legacy of discrimination targeting Black people and other historically marginalized groups that cannot be ignored.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Expert reveals how companies are rebranding 'toxic' DEI policies to skirt Trump-era bans: 'New wrapper'
EXCLUSIVE: As the Trump administration and Republicans across the country push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies across the board, the executive director of a top consumer advocacy group spoke to Fox News Digital about what companies and institutions are doing to skirt those efforts. "Over the last few months, we've sort of seen a phase shift in the ways that they're trying to keep this DEI grift going," Consumers' Research Executive Director Will Hild told Fox News Digital about companies, organizations, hospitals and other entities that are attempting to rebrand DEI and environmental, social and governance in the Trump era. "At first, they just pushed back on, tried to defend DEI itself, but when that became so obvious that what DEI really was was anti-White, anti-Asian, sometimes anti-Jewish discrimination in hiring and promotion, they abandoned that," Hild said. "Now what they're trying to do is simply change the terminology that has become so toxic to their brand. So we're seeing a lot of companies move from having departments of DEI, for example, to 'departments of belonging' or 'departments of inclusivity.'" Several major companies have publicly distanced themselves from DEI in recent months as the new administration signs executive orders eliminating the practice while making the argument that meritocracy should be the focus. Red State Treasurer Reveals Why State Financial Officers Have 'Obligation' To Combat Esg, Dei However, FOX Business exclusively reported in April on Consumers' Research warning that some businesses appear to be rebranding the same efforts rather than eliminating them. Read On The Fox News App "It is the exact same toxic nonsense under a new wrapper, and they're just hoping to extend the grift because a lot of these people, I would say most of the people working in DEI are useless," Hild told Fox News Digital. Key Biden Agency Dropped $60K On Overseas Conference With Dei Workshop: 'Should Never Happen' "They are mediocrities who have managed to get very high-level positions that they're not qualified for by running this DEI grift, and they're desperate," he continued. "They can't just move into running logistics for Amazon because that takes actual competence and intelligence and if you're in a DEI department, you probably don't have either of those things. So they are desperate to keep this grift going so they can justify their own existence. So they're changing it into a new wrapper." Hild, who spoke to Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida, also explained some of the other issues Consumers' Research is focused on going forward, including fighting "woke" hospitals in three different areas. "One is net zero pledges and activities that raise costs for consumers, patients having to pay more because these hospitals are investing millions, sometimes tens of millions of dollars, into green boondoggle projects that have nothing to do with the treatment of patients and the improvement of their health, but they do raise prices," Hild said. Secondly, Hild said that his group is concerned about DEI quotas at hospitals. Hild explained that the third and "worst" issue is transgender surgeries and procedures being forced onto children. "Pushing of radical left transgender ideology onto kids, and not just pushing it ideologically and rhetorically, but pushing it physically, and what I mean by that is the injection of damaging, lifelong damaging hormones into children to, quote, unquote, change their sex, which is impossible, and even worse, the actual surgical application, removal and mutilation of their genitals, which is a grotesque violation of the Hippocratic Oath," Hild said. Consumers' Research has been actively involved in launching advertising campaigns against hospitals across the United States, including a recent campaign against Henry Ford Health in Michigan, calling out what it says are situations where hospitals are putting "politics over patients."Original article source: Expert reveals how companies are rebranding 'toxic' DEI policies to skirt Trump-era bans: 'New wrapper'
France 24
10-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
US to welcome White South Africans as ‘refugees' while rejecting other asylum-seekers
The Trump administration will welcome more than two dozen White South Africans to the United States as refugees next week, an unusual move given that Washington has suspended most refugee resettlement programmes, officials and documents indicated on Friday. The moves come as the White House rejects asylum-seekers from most areas of the world by suspending the US refugee resettlement programme. The first Afrikaner refugees are arriving Monday at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. They are expected to be greeted by a government delegation, including the deputy secretary of state and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, whose refugee office has organised their resettlement. The flight will be the first of several in a 'much larger-scale relocation effort', White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters. The Trump administration has taken a number of steps against South Africa, accusing the Black-led government of pursuing anti-White policies at home and an anti-American foreign policy. The South African government denies the allegations and says the US criticism is operating on misinformation. While State Department refugee programmes have been suspended – halting arrivals from Afghanistan, Iraq, most of sub-Saharan Africa and other countries in a move currently being challenged in court – President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February prioritising the processing of White South Africans and claiming racial discrimination. 'What's happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created,' Miller said. 'This is persecution based on a protected characteristic – in this case, race. This is race-based persecution.' South Africa is the homeland of close Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has been outspoken in his claims of discrimination against Whites in his home country, even accusing the government of "genocide". White South Africans a 'priority' Since Trump's executive order, the US embassy in Pretoria has been conducting interviews, 'prioritising consideration for US refugee resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination', the State Department said. The department said nothing about the imminent arrival of what officials said are believed to be more than two dozen White South Africans from roughly four families who applied for resettlement in the US. Their arrival had originally been scheduled for early last week. The HHS Office for Refugee Resettlement was ready to offer them support, including with housing, furniture and other household items, and expenses like groceries, clothing, diapers and more, the document says. 'This effort is a stated priority of the Administration.' HHS did not respond to messages seeking comment. Supporters of the refugee programme questioned why the Trump administration was moving so quickly to resettle White South Africans while halting the wider refugee programme, which brings people to the US who are displaced by war, natural disaster or persecution and involves significant security and vetting in a process that often takes years. 'We are concerned that the US Government has chosen to fast-track the admission of Afrikaners, while actively fighting court orders to provide life-saving resettlement to other refugee populations who are in desperate need,' Church World Services president Rick Santos said in a statement. His group has been assisting refugees for more than 70 years. 'Hypocrisy' Letting in White South Africans while keeping out Afghans is 'hypocrisy', said Shawn VanDiver, who heads #AfghanEvac, which helps resettle Afghans who assisted the US military during the two-decade-long war. 'Afghans who served alongside US forces, who taught girls, who fought for democracy, and who now face Taliban reprisals, meet every definition of a refugee,' he said. 'Afghans risked their lives for us. That should matter.' The Trump administration alleges the South African government has allowed minority White Afrikaner farmers to be persecuted and attacked while introducing an expropriation law designed to take away their land. The South African government has said it was surprised by claims of discrimination against Afrikaners because White people still generally have a much higher standard of living than Black people more than 30 years after the end of the apartheid system. South Africa holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 developed and developing nations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio notably boycotted a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg in March because its agenda centered on diversity, inclusion and climate change. He also expelled South Africa's ambassador to the US in March for comments that the Trump administration interpreted as accusing the president of promoting white supremacy. Shortly thereafter, the State Department ended all engagement with the G20 during South Africa's presidency. The US is due to host G20 meetings in 2026. 'No South African refugees' South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said in a statement Friday that he had spoken with Trump late last month on issues including US criticism of the country and allegations that Afrikaners are being persecuted. Ramaphosa told Trump that the information the US president had received 'was completely false'. 'Therefore, our position is that there are no South African citizens that can be classified as refugees to any part of the world, including the US,' the statement said. The South African foreign ministry said Deputy Foreign Minister Alvin Botes spoke with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Friday about the refugees. Landau is expected to lead the delegation to welcome the group Monday. South Africa 'expressed concerns' and denied allegations of discrimination against Afrikaners, the foreign ministry said in a statement. 'It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being 'refugees' is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa's constitutional democracy,' the statement said. It noted that the country has worked to prevent any repeat of the type of persecution and discrimination that happened under apartheid rule. The foreign ministry said it would not block anyone who wanted to leave as it respected their freedom of movement and choice. But it said it was seeking information about the 'status' of the people leaving South Africa, wanting assurances that they had been properly vetted and did not have outstanding criminal cases. The foreign ministry added that South Africa was 'dedicated to constructive dialogue' with the US.
Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Netflix's 'anti-White Lotus' comedy races past You season 5 in charts
Netflix's new comedy has become a surprise hit with viewers, racing to the top of the streaming charts this week Netflix continues to dominate the scene as another underdog shoots straight to the top of the streaming leaderboards. Rocketing to number one with an impressive viewership nearing 12 million, a star-packed dramedy has eclipsed the climactic season of the beloved series You from its lofty perch. Boasting comedy giants Steve Carrell and Tina Fey in the cast, this refreshed take on the classic hit film The Four Seasons is charming audiences left, right and centre. Missed out on it so far? Here's your nudge to check out this surprisingly touching eight-part series that spins a tale of three couples whose bonds – and their tradition of seasonal getaways – are thrown into jeopardy by divorce proceedings, reports the Express. The ensemble is studded with talent including dual Oscar nominee Colman Domingo, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Marco Calvani, and Erika Henningsen. TV pundit David Opie lavished it with praise calling it "the anti-White Lotus, and I mean that as a compliment." "Tina Fey's first series since 30 Rock is an old-fashioned comfort show grounded by av strong cast who navigatea messy yearof ups and downs." He finally added: "Colman Domingo is predictably brilliant." A Netflix fan took to X (previously Twitter), gushing: "Loved the four seasons on Netflix. Great comfort show if you need something to binge watch. Great cast. Great storyline. No notes at all." Yet amidst the warmth, some audience members have signposted the unexpected emotional wallop that The Four Seasons packs towards the miniseries' conclusion. "The four seasons isn't a comedy," one viewer insisted. "It's a multi-layered sandwich of adult emotions. "Questionable decisions, silly arguments, buried grief, and a friendship that feels like home. Warm, messy, tender. A rich, filling, and deeply satisfying [series]." An enthusiastic fan took to Reddit saying: "I laughed multiple times every episode. All the characters were well written and dynamic. A real gem of a show." To this rave review, another chimed in: "Warm and funny with perfect runtime, an absolute delight. I could watch so many more shows like this." A third commenter confessed: "I'm obsessed with Colman Domingo. I haven't seen him in comedy before. This show might become one of my comfort shows." And yet another admirer gushed: "Yes I thought it was great. A nice mixture of drama and comedy. "It has some deep themes about middle age and relationships. The cast was truly stellar." So if you are among the few who have not yet been charmed by The Four Seasons, be sure to pencil in this heartwarming and sharp-witted comedy for your viewing pleasure this weekend – already a hit sensation for almost 12 million viewers. The Four Seasons is available to stream on Netflix.
Business of Fashion
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Demonised by Trump, DEI Professionals Go ‘Discreet' to Find Jobs
On the website of diversity consultant BWG Business Solutions is a sentence that would have felt out of place five years ago, when companies were bragging about their DEI efforts: 'Due to the increasing scrutiny and politicization of equity efforts, the public listing of clients and partnerships has been removed from this website.' BWG's founder, Janice Gassam Asare, isn't the only one changing the way she's doing business now that the Trump administration has placed diversity, equity and inclusion in its crosshairs. The attacks are forcing professionals in the field to rebrand themselves to get contracts, battle over the remaining staff positions and reimagine what the industry will look like going forward. Some in the field are repositioning how they market themselves, including leaning away from talking about race and gender, and prioritising their leadership expertise, according to interviews with more than a dozen DEI professionals. 'I like to call it DEI done discreetly,' said Gassam Asare. Some longtime BWG clients started letting contracts lapse in early 2024, as pushback against DEI entered the US presidential election. Gassam Asare said that corporate clients are now less interested in long-term consulting that includes a comprehensive equity audit — analyses that assess how policies impact various gender or racial groups — and surveys with staffers. They're more inclined to ask for workshops that don't require a long-term financial commitment. It's led to a 60 percent drop in the amount of money she's bringing in via contracts compared to two years ago. 'Companies aren't sure what the future of DEI is going to be,' she said, 'so they don't want to invest in what they fear could be illegal.' For Keith Wyche, who writes and speaks about workplace culture and was previously a corporate vice president at Walmart Inc., the current environment is prompting him to emphasise other parts of his resume. 'Personally, I do make sure that I lean into my leadership skills, I lean into my career and background in change management transformation so that I'm not labelled a DEI guy,' he said. In his first days in office, President Donald Trump made good on his pledge to fight what he called an 'anti-White feeling' in the US. He's signed executive orders aimed at pressuring corporations and other groups to end policies that constitute 'illegal DEI discrimination,' saying the initiatives disguise race and sex-based discrimination, undermine meritocracy and divide people into an 'identity-based spoils system.' He revoked a longstanding requirement that federal contractors follow affirmative action commitments and dismantled diversity programmes across the government. A slew of US businesses including Inc. and Walmart rolled back their diversity and inclusion efforts as they increasingly face campaigns and legal attacks over their efforts. A March NBC News survey found that a slightly higher share of voters had negative versus positive feelings on DEI, with roughly half of respondents saying there is 'too much political correctness in our society today.' That kind of divisiveness prompted Wyche to stop using the acronym altogether. ''DEI' has been co-opted to mean, you know, a bunch of other things,' he said. 'But when I say 'diversity, equity, and inclusion,' it's kind of hard to fight those three words.' Michael Welp is the founder of WMFDP — or White Men as Full Diversity Partners. But the full name is one the organisation is shying away from, opting to use the acronym lately. When Welp runs multi-day leadership-coaching sessions on topics like conflict resolution or better communication, the first thing he asks prospective clients now is whether they are government contractors. If so, he'll change the sessions to veer away from explicitly discussing gender or race. 'I've actually moved more outside of the DEI space to honour what the laws are,' Welp said. 'And also I find that there's plenty of work to do in growing the kinds of leadership skills that people need that we use to grow DEI, without a need to focus on DEI.' One recent example is an auto supplier that was having issues with team dynamics. WMFDP created a four-day programme aimed at improving how the group provides feedback and finding each of the team members' strengths. 'It was not necessary to have a conversation about race to do that, for example,' Welp said. But in the end, you improve 'those same kinds of skills.' Corporate leaders are understandably jittery. In one of Trump's early executive orders, the president directed the head of every government agency to identify up to nine large public companies, nonprofits, universities and professional associations they think should be investigated over DEI policies. And the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, created in the Civil Rights era to fight discrimination in the workplace, has questioned some of the country's biggest law firms over their diversity focused hiring practices. Elsewhere, anti-DEI activists like Robby Starbuck are drumming up social media campaigns that have ended in companies like Deere & Co. and Tractor Supply Co. scaling back their initiatives. And yet, at a January gathering of about 60 corporate CEOs, the moderator asked who in the audience was dismantling programmes within their corporations. No one raised their hand. 'Most CEOs tell us: 'We're going to do the work of diversity, equity and inclusion. We may not boast about it, you may not get a DEI annual report anymore, you may not see us use it as a branding opportunity. But we're going to do the work,' said Cid Wilson, president of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, a pro-DEI group working to advance the inclusion of Latinos in corporate America. He's spoken to some 200 corporate leaders about the topic in recent months, and he's come away with what he described as interest in figuring out how to 'navigate this tighter lane.' Wilson added: 'That's been a very difficult maze.' Since the US Supreme Court banned race-conscious admissions in colleges in 2023, company leaders worried about whether diversity programmes would face legal challenges, even if laws hadn't actually changed yet. Big companies, including Wall Street banks, began opening up programmes focused on women and minorities to include everyone and scouring their internal and external communications to weed out language that could draw scrutiny. 'If you're the general counsel, arguably you are the second most powerful person in corporate America right now,' Wilson said. Companies are notably pulling back on hiring DEI-specific roles. The number of new positions at S&P 500 companies was down more than 70 percent in 2024 from a peak three years earlier, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. This year, just six new roles were added through the start of April. 'If your job title's got inclusion in it, it's either been changed or eliminated or repurposed,' said Chantalle Couba, who advises leadership at private sector companies, nonprofits and higher education institutions on human capital issues. California-based Michael Streffery, who has been job hunting since the end of 2024 and has previously worked at and Ubisoft, is feeling the effects of those cuts. In recent months, he has been in the final round of interviewing for four DEI roles. Two of those positions were removed, and he didn't progress in the others. 'Have I considered pivoting to other areas like head of talent development, head of talent attraction, or HR business director?,' he said. 'Absolutely. And I have applied to those positions, but what I'm also seeing is that the competition is so extreme.' Nearly all of the professionals interviewed said they expect the industry to transform further, though it's not entirely clear what that new reality will look like. Most agree that the days of plush budgets and listening sessions about race at work are gone, at least for now. 'My hot take is that we haven't done diversity well,' said Misty Gaither, who previously oversaw DEI at Indeed Inc. and now works as an independent consultant. She hopes this moment allows companies to move away from narrowly focusing on hiring diverse talent, which often draws pushback. The better strategy is making sure that performance reviews are equitable for those that fall into marginalised groups or ensuring talent development is accessible throughout an organisation. 'Moving away from more performative, topical things that have been bold headlines but really doing the hard work, the less sexy work,' Gaither said. 'I think that is something that can be a positive output from what we're seeing in this current landscape.' By Kelsey Butler
