Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) proponents are scrambling to find ways to counter President Trump as he moves to dismantle some of the programs and policies intended to bolster their movement.

Trump has signed multiple executive orders aimed at terminating DEI efforts in the federal government, including the military, and most recently took aim at DEI following the fatal plane crash at Reagan National Airport.

Now Democrats and others who see DEI as essential to maintaining diversity in the ranks of government and other sectors are struggling to find ways to combat the administration’s aggressive tactics.

“It is restoring barriers to equality, to opportunity and to access. When you take those things out, you are undermining the ability of the government … and you are ensuring that there is discrimination, that there is unfairness, that there is inequality,” Andrea Abrams, executive director of American Pride Rises (APR), told The Hill.

Trump and Republicans have argued DEI is a discriminatory practice that wrongfully employs minorities while overlooking qualified candidates.

In his inauguration speech, Trump said his administration would “forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.” He doubled down on this in his executive orders, where he labeled “so-called” DEI programs “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences.”

Advocates have pushed back on such assertions, instead saying the role of DEI is to help hedge discriminatory practices and outcomes toward protected communities noted under equal employment opportunity policies.

“The objective of these programs is to try and mitigate some of the still rampant, ongoing discrimination that's faced by people from certain communities,” said Dante King, an author and DEI proponent.

King added that the backlash........

© The Hill