Demand Diversity Roundtable: Advancing Equal Opportunity for All

National Urban League and adversity partners address critical challenges to DEI today.

In January, the National Urban League and its advocacy partners convened to address the critical challenges facing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the United States today. The Demand Diversity Roundtable was organized as a live-streamed event, bringing together prominent leaders from diverse communities to explore immediate threats posed by the new administration’s anticipated policies. All members at the roundtable underscored the importance of collective action and called for standing against policies that threaten progress.

More than 20 organizations representing communities totaling over 100 million Americans, reaffirmed their unwavering duty to defending the core American values that strengthen the nation: diversity, equity, and inclusion. Roundtable participants also discussed their commitment to exposing the divisive myths around diversity, highlighting the fact that 81% of Americans believe that companies should reflect the nation’s racial diversity.

Roundtable participants also discussed their initiative to join forces and launch a new nationwide effort to protect and defend DEI, which includes but is not limited to engagement with Congress, outreach to corporate leaders, consumer education with respect to companies that have committed to or rolled back their DEI programs, and exploring litigation in state and federal courts to uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Here are a few soundbites from some of the representatives and organizations present at the event:

■ Marc H. Morial, National Urban League President and CEO

“We must be the massive resistance. And, we must energize those who are in elected office, who are our allies and friends, that this is not a moment for paralysis of analysis, it’s a moment for action. We must energize those in positions of economic power that collectively the people around this table represent more than $5 trillion in consumer spending power. That consumer spending power is a tool to be deployed and employed. We must use everything we have to fight this battle.”

■ Juan Proaño, CEO, League of United Latin American Citizens

“Beyond economic concerns, the rollback of DEI initiatives threatens to erase the hard won progress of social inclusion. This deepens existing disparities particularly in employment and education where Latinos have significantly faced barriers.”

■ Maya Berry, Executive Director, Arab American Institute

“One of the key elements that we need to apply consistently across the board to every single American, every single community, is that Arab Americans require public safety. That requires that we are represented and serviced by a workforce that looks like us.”

■ Gregg Orton, National Director, National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans

“The recent opponents of DEI are attacking it because it works. It is simply about power and control. When our communities of color are given an opportunity to empower ourselves, that directly threatens our opponents’ ability to control us—and that’s why we fight.”

■ Amy Spitalnick, CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs

“The only path forward is one in which we recognize that our safety and our futures are inextricably linked, that diversity and pluralism are our greatest strengths, that building strong inclusive coalitions where all of us can show up as our true selves without having to check our identities at the door, is existential to all of our communities.”

■ Kimberlé Crenshaw, Co-founder and Executive Director, African American Policy Forum

“They’re coming after the entire infrastructure that has been created from the Civil Rights Movement. We know we have to fight collaboratively, we have to fight collectively, we have to fight creatively. But we also have to fight with an idea that we refuse to allow any of what we have created to be lost.”

■ Brenda Victoria Castillo, President and CEO, National Hispanic Media Coalition

“We are the consumers; we are the customer base. The U.S. is projected to become more diverse by 2045, and diverse Americans are projected to account for 50.3% of the population. Studies show that businesses are more successful when they build workforces that represent the communities that they serve and are their customer base … Anti-diversity, as far as I’m concerned, is anti-business.”

■ Samantha Tweedy, President, The Black Economic Alliance Foundation

“Diversity is popular with Americans, and it’s popular with Americans of all stripes, because Americans understand that it creates value for businesses. This is good for the company, it’s good for the economy as a whole, good for our country, and certainly worth defending.”

The Facts About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Does Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion lower standards?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are NOT about lowering standards; the focus is on ensuring that all who have merit have opportunity. In practice, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs remove barriers to create equal opportunities for everyone.

Are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs just quotas?

No. Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are not quotas. Quotas are prohibited in employment, education, and other sectors. Quotas are illegal, but setting measurable goals are not. Instead, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs focus on setting measurable goals, which are common in business for driving progress. American businesses set goals for everything they do – earnings, share price, growth rate – what gets measured gets done. Goals ensure accountability and help create equitable opportunities without dictating hiring decisions or outcomes.

When the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in college admissions, did that decision make Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs illegal?

No. The Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard / UNC specifically addresses the consideration of race in college admissions decisions at those two schools for qualified applicants – only. There is nothing unconstitutional about employer diversity, equity, and inclusion programs or training programs, corporate or government commitments to racial equity or diversity, targeted recruitment programs for underrepresented groups, or business goals to improve diversity in contracting. Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs create opportunities, promote fairness, and drive progress by fostering a broad range of talent and perspectives in workplaces, schools, and communities.

A complete version of the DEI fact sheet and the livestream are available on www.nul.org