Beware ‘belonging' — the sneaky word companies use to keep up their DEI discrimination
Since President Donald Trump took office in January and announced his intent to dismantle divisive diversity, equity and inclusion policies nationwide, many companies leaped to claim that they, too, have rejected the once-trendy movement.
But in truth, a large number are not actually ending their DEI activities — they're simply rebranding them with the pleasant-sounding term 'belonging.'
Workplace DEI policies base hiring, promotions and other key decisions solely on race, gender and sexual orientation.
Such discriminatory practices are illegal — and harmful, prioritizing a person's immutable characteristics over his or her hard work and achievements.
But for the committed woke activists burrowed into countless HR departments, the power to push identity politics on everyone around them is hard to give up.
That's why my organization, Consumers' Research, predicted this widespread rebranding maneuver about a year ago, when public backlash against DEI began gaining momentum.
In fact, 'belonging' is one of the words we suggested companies might use, after it got a test-run on many college campuses.
The only surprise is just how many corporations are taking the same lockstep approach to the effort.
Kohl's, for example, declared in March that it had dropped DEI from its messaging.
But in fact the company just swapped out its 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion' web page for an 'Inclusion and Belonging' page instead.
Michelle Banks, Kohl's former chief DEI officer, is still there doing the very same work — now under her new title of Chief Inclusion and Belonging Officer.
For Kohl's, DEI has not waned, merely disguised itself.
Amid pressure from Trump, insurance company Nationwide removed all mentions of DEI from its website and rolled out the phrase as 'Belonging, respect and fairness' in its place.
But despite shedding its skin, DEI's vital organs are very much present there, including Nationwide's Associate Resource Groups that 'offer allyship' based on race.
Disney has been attempting to camouflage its former DEI webpage with the same 'belonging' fig leaf — but still publishes 'workforce' and 'content' representation data broken down by race and sex.
That drew the notice of the Federal Communications Commission, which has launched an investigation into Disney's DEI programming.
'I want to ensure that Disney ends any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just name,' wrote FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr.
Trump has made it crystal clear that discriminatory practices like DEI must be swept from our public institutions, and he has directed federal departments to identify private-sector targets for enforcement action.
Understandably, C-suite executives are eager to avoid potential litigation — and are all too aware that consumers have become weary of DEI-obsessed corporations' efforts to appease woke activists.
But too many of these companies are trying to have it both ways, either because corporate officers remain committed to the morally bankrupt DEI ideology, or because they're still intimidated by leftist employees or left-leaning activist organizations.
Ultimately, the motivation behind the cowardice doesn't matter: It's an insult to the intelligence of consumers, shareholders and public officials for companies to imagine that a mere DEI name change is going to be enough.
Are they so arrogant to believe they can fool the American public with a cosmetic cover-up? It looks that way.
DEI, by 'belonging' or any other name, is still divisive, discriminatory and often outright illegal.
Corporate America needs to stop trying to deceive its customers, and start focusing on expunging radical political ideologies from businesses that serve Americans of all ideological persuasions.
Consumers also have a role to play.
We must let companies know we won't stand for these deceptive antics by withholding patronage from businesses that use our hard-earned dollars to advance DEI and other manifestations of extreme wokeness.
Only after they make real and substantive changes should we let them off the hook.
Finally, any CEO who knowingly continues to oversee the deliberate violation of federal civil-rights laws should be on notice: Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, the relentless culture warrior who now heads the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice, is an excellent lawyer.
She may be reaching out soon.
Will Hild is executive director of Consumers' Research.
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