Many Americans believe companies should be more vocal on the topic of racism, according to two surveys released on Wednesday, a reality which comes as many conservatives raise concerns about the impact of diversity initiatives.
The most recent edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer found that 62% of respondents believe companies are “doing mediocre or worse living up to their promises and commitments to address racism both within their organization as well as the population.” Some 74% of blacks answered affirmatively, as did 71% of Asians, 66% of Hispanics, and 60% of whites, while a slight majority of Republicans answered affirmatively alongside two-thirds of Democrats.
Respondents also overwhelmingly said that prominent firms should correct misconceptions about diversity and affirmative action in the workplace, as well as “provide training on how to identify misinformation, including misinformation about racism and systemic injustice.”
Another survey of American workers from Pew Research Center revealed that 56% of respondents believe “increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion at work” is a “good thing,” while 16% said the trend was a “bad thing” and 28% said the trend was “neither good nor bad.”
Only 32% of workers, on the other hand, said they consider working “somewhere with a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities” as “extremely or very important” to them, while 28% said the same with respect to age diversity. More than half believe their employers pay “about the right amount of attention” to increasing diversity efforts, while women were considerably more likely than men to concur that the initiatives are positive developments.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, also known as DEI, acquired a larger foothold in the private sector after the social and racial justice movements gained significant momentum while spreading across the nation three years ago. Critics of the diversity efforts observe that proponents advocate the mingling of racial or sexual identity with critical hiring decisions, leading to a decline in overall profitability and efficiency as efforts to merely hire the most qualified candidates are deprioritized. Other skeptics note that moves claiming to ensure equal opportunity can also serve as a means to advance left-wing ideology with respect to racial identity and oppression within workplaces.
Many companies have indeed adopted explicit goals to increase the number of racial minorities or females who are employed in the overall workforce or are promoted to senior management. Some conservative attorneys argue that the objectives violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a statute that penalizes any employer who would “limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment” in any way that could adversely affect them because of their “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
The largest firms in the United States donated more than $37 billion to social justice organizations and efforts in the year after the death of George Floyd. A more recent analysis from earlier this year concluded that the number has since reached $83 billion.
Government officials have likewise attempted to hire employees based on their race or sex: President Joe Biden endorsed an executive order to achieve “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” in the federal workforce, as well as a plan which includes an “equity roadmap” calling for “policies that do not rely solely on prior salary history” to create payment schedules.