Author: Gram Slattery and Nathan Lane
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s pledge to crack down on what he calls “anti-white sentiment” in the United States could embolden allies seeking to dismantle government and corporate programs aimed at combating racism and promoting diversity in American life.
Some prominent supporters of the former president, now a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, say policies that protect people of color in classrooms, workplaces and charities should be realigned to protect the rights of white people.
“I think there’s a clear anti-white sentiment in this country,” Trump told Time magazine in an interview published Tuesday. “Frankly, I don’t think it’s a very difficult thing to fix. But I think the law as it is right now is very unfair.”
Trump gave no specific examples of anti-white bias or policy prescriptions in the interview.
But Trump’s campaign website outlines several plans, and some of his allies are offering detailed proposals if Trump takes back the White House from Democrat Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.
One Trump proposal would overturn a Biden executive order that requires federal agencies to evaluate whether underserved communities — including people of color, LGBTQ Americans and rural Americans — can fully benefit from their programs.
At campaign rallies, Trump promised to defund schools that teach critical race theory, an academic concept rarely taught in public schools that is premised on the premise that racial bias is woven into American institutions.
A campaign adviser, Lynne Patton, told conservative activist and journalist Laura Loomer in an interview released Friday that she expects a second-term Trump White House to refuse to offer support to anyone working on diversity issues. Federal funding is provided to schools, companies, or charities that implement hiring practices under culture, equity, and inclusion programs.
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Rights advocates criticize any actions they see as denying equal status to communities of color. They say the program Trump wants to dismantle is an effort to reverse centuries of documented inequality.
“Whenever efforts to level the playing field for non-whites succeed in any way, many white people have always had the ability to stoke that anxiety and frustration,” said Tricia Ross, director of the Center for Ethnic Studies and Brown University’s U.S. Race.
Gene Hamilton, a Trump ally, told Reuters that the Justice Department’s civil rights division must ensure that corporate programs aimed at promoting diversity in the workplace are not inherently discriminatory.
He said the department’s authority comes in part from Section 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The bill, passed at a time when black Americans were aggressively fighting for civil rights, prohibits hiring or pay decisions based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
Hamilton, who served in the Justice Department under Trump, said the bill should also protect white people. For example, hiring initiatives aimed at increasing the number of people of color in the workplace should not exclude other applicants.
Such a focus would be a significant departure from the Civil Rights Division’s historical role of protecting marginalized groups.
In recent years, it has led investigations into alleged racism against black Americans in police departments and sued companies for discriminating against immigrants.
“Programs and policies that deny benefits or employment to Americans solely because of their race, gender, or any similar reason violate the core principles that hold the country together,” said Hamilton, authored by a Trump-friendly think tank. A policy book published by a consortium called Project 2025.
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Trump’s policy blueprint for his second term
Although the Trump campaign has distanced itself from the project, the consortium has drafted a policy blueprint for a potential Trump administration. Many of the former president’s allies are involved.
In fact, official racial complaints of anti-white workplace discrimination appear to be rare.
For example, only a small percentage of race-based claims brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an independent government agency, are brought by white people, who make up the majority of the U.S. workforce.
Still, most self-identified Trump voters believe white Americans face discrimination. In a March Reuters/Ipsos poll, about 53% of self-identified Trump voters said they believed white Americans were discriminated against because of their skin color, compared with the same share of self-identified Biden voters. is 14%.
A chapter of “Project 2025” co-authored by conservative economist and Trump adviser Stephen Moore argued that the Treasury Department should seek to fire employees who are willing to participate in diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
This chapter does not specify what programs it considers to be a form of DEI, but the term generally indicates a desire to increase diversity and make people of color more comfortable in the workplace.
Asked about Time’s comments and what steps Trump would take to address anti-white bias, his campaign said in a statement that black and Hispanic Americans are more concerned about immigration, crime and wallet issues than race. interested.
In a 2021 Gallup poll, about 85% of black Americans said they were dissatisfied with the treatment of black people in the United States.
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“In his second term, President Trump will elevate the status of all Americans, regardless of race or religion,” said campaign adviser Patton.
When asked in the TIME interview, Biden’s campaign said Trump’s policies would make life more difficult for communities of color.
“Trump has made it clear that if he wins in November, he will turn his record on racism into official government policy by dismantling federal funding for communities of color,” campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said. Economic Opportunity Plan.
Legal scholars say that in practice, some of the more radical proposals may be difficult to implement, but not impossible.
For example, while the protections of the Civil Rights Act apply to white people, the Justice Department often lacks the authority to prosecute private employers under Title VII.
However, Susan Carr, a professor at American University, said the Justice Department could step in in some cases. One example might include a company contracting with the government, she said.
NAACP Senior Vice President Patrice Willoughby said the civil rights group will prepare to organize boycotts of certain companies that tacitly agree to attack equity programs.
“We will not hesitate to use our economic power when necessary,” she said.
