CHRISTOPHER RUFO: The campaign for colorblind equality has just had its biggest success yet

On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order ending “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in the federal government.

The move marks a dramatic reversal of fortunes from just four years ago, when Black Lives Matter, critical race theory, and DEI seemed unstoppable. After the death of George Floyd, left-wing activists wreaked havoc on America’s institutions, rewriting school curriculum, changing government policy, and even establishing DEI offices at major universities, metropolitan school districts and Fortune 100 companies. The Biden administration quickly followed suit, authorizing “the whole-of-government equity agenda” that anchored the DEI in the federal government.

I won’t do it again. President Trump rescinded Biden’s order and directed his Cabinet to “terminate, to the maximum extent permitted by law, all ‘DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions,” and “all ‘equal action programs,'” ‘equality . ‘ actions, efforts, or plans.” In other words, President Trump has signed DEI’s death warrant to the federal government.

‘ILLEGAL DEI-MOTIVATED’ DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE TO BE SIGNED BY NEW TRUMP PRESIDENT

How did we get here? By patiently building a movement and winning public debate. In early 2023, I worked with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to launch a campaign to “end DEI”. We started by deregulating DEI at New College of Florida, a small public university in Sarasota, where I serve as a trustee. The racist reaction on the Left was intense. Protesters flocked to the campus and the left-wing media published a number of articles criticizing the act. But we strongly argued that government institutions should judge people based on their achievements, not their ancestors.

The argument started to take hold. Polling data has shown that Americans support a “color-blind society” over a “race-conscious society” by large margins. Even the New York Times, one of the biggest promoters of left-wing racism, began publishing pieces critical of the DEI. At the same time, the Black Lives Matter movement was caught in the trap of scandals and DEI’s wise voices, such as Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, faced constant public scrutiny and seemed to fade from the limelight.

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We moved forward. Gov. DeSantis led the way, signing legislation ending DEI regulation at all Florida public universities. A dozen other red states followed, limiting DEI programs and banning DEI-style discrimination from their state agencies. The process became a virtuous cycle: each state that passed an anti-DEI bill reduced the risk of the next state doing the same. The campaign moved from the arena of debate to the realm of policy.

Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris on November 5 sealed the fate of DEI. Corporate America, including companies like Walmart, and Meta, interpreted the event as a catalyst for change, voluntarily ending their DEI programs before Trump took office. Mark Zuckerberg made it clear, arguing that the country had reached a “tipping point in cultural development,” which convinced him to stop the DEI programs. And Zuckerberg, along with many other tech experts, was sitting pretty at Monday’s opening ceremony.

In a way, Trump’s Monday order came at a price — people knew it was coming. Still, it’s a huge achievement for those who built this campaign from the ground up. There will be many battles ahead – the bureaucracy will try to evade the order, and more demands regarding the reform of general civil rights – but, for now, we should celebrate. The forces of left racism are on the defensive, and the forces of colorblind equality are on the way.

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None of it could have been avoided—and none of it will continue, either. It takes courage, hard work, and a little luck. But this is undoubtedly a time to feel optimistic.

American institutions are not beyond repair, as many fear. The American people were smart enough to realize that their country might not have survived four or eight more years of a DEI government. They spoke on November 5, and now President Trump is acting accordingly.

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