"The DEI Backlash:

A Deliberate Attempt To

Reverse Progress"
Melody Fogarty

Dear Reader:

As we continue celebrating International Women’s Month, we do so against the backdrop of a national backlash against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Corporate rollbacks, legal challenges, and political opposition have put gender and racial equity efforts under siege, threatening hard-won progress. However, history has taught us that women do not yield—we adapt, we fight, and we build new pathways forward. 

Rather than seeing this moment as a defeat, we must use it as an opportunity to redefine equity on our terms. This means ensuring that women retain their economic and legal rights, pushing for structural reforms like the Equal Rights Amendment, and resisting any attempt to return to a past where white men held unchecked dominance over business, politics, and society. 

The DEI Backlash: A Deliberate Attempt to Reverse Progress

Over the past year, corporations and institutions have faced mounting pressure to retreat from DEI commitments. Some companies have dissolved DEI-focused ERGs, eliminated Chief Diversity Officer roles, and deprioritized equity-based hiring, promotions, and supplier diversity initiatives. This has disproportionately impacted women, particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous women, who have fought for decades to gain access to leadership, funding, and fair contracts. 

The goal of these efforts is clear: to restore systems that benefit a white male-dominated power structure at the expense of everyone else. But this fight is not just about representation in boardrooms—it’s about economic autonomy, legal protections, and fundamental human rights. 

The Silver Lining: Five Critical Areas for Action 

Despite these setbacks, International Women’s Month reminds us that the fight for equity is far from over. Women and allies must take action in these key areas to ensure that the progress of past generations is not erased: 

1. Protecting Women’s Economic Rights: Contracts, Banking, and Business Ownership 

Economic independence is power. With increasing attacks on DEI, we must ensure that women—particularly women of color—retain their rights to secure and maintain government and corporate contracts, access capital, and grow their businesses.

- Supplier diversity programs must be defended.

- Fair banking and lending practices must be enforced, preventing discrimination that limits women’s financial autonomy. 

- Women must leverage their economic power, recognizing that they control over 85% of consumer purchasing decisions—companies that ignore this do so at their own risk. 

2. Insisting on the Publication of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

It is time to finally publish the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and enshrine gender equality into the U.S. Constitution. The ERA, which has been ratified by the necessary number of states, has been stalled for decades due to political resistance. 

Without constitutional protection, women remain vulnerable to legislative rollbacks on issues ranging from equal pay to reproductive rights. Women’s Month should serve as a national call to action to demand the immediate publication of the ERA—because equality should not be up for debate. 

3. Resisting Any Effort to Reinstate White Male Supremacy

The push to dismantle DEI is not just about budgets and policies—it is about power. It is a coordinated effort to return to a time when white men held unquestioned dominance in business, finance, government, and society. We must be clear: we are not going back.

- Women must run for office, serve on boards, and claim leadership positions to prevent decision-making from being dominated by those who seek to erase our progress. 

- We must support intersectional movements that recognize that gender and racial justice are inseparable. 

- Allyship must be active, not passive—men who believe in equity must stand up and challenge those who seek to reinstate exclusionary power structures. 

4. Redefining DEI as a Business and National Security Imperative

Corporations may retreat from DEI in response to political pressure, but smart companies know that diversity is a competitive advantage. Organizations that integrate equity into their business models consistently outperform their less diverse counterparts.

Moreover, inclusion is not just a business issue—it’s a national security issue. Countries that suppress women’s economic and political participation weaken their economies and global standing. The U.S. cannot afford to backslide while the rest of the world moves forward. 

5. Strengthening Grassroots Networks and Alternative Economic Systems

If corporations and government agencies fail to uphold their commitments, women must build their own systems of support. 

- Professional and business networks like the National Association of Black Women in Construction (NABWIC) are critical lifelines, ensuring that Black women in male-dominated industries continue to thrive. 

- Women-led investment funds and cooperative business models provide alternative pathways to capital, ensuring that women-owned businesses are not dependent on discriminatory financial institutions. 

- Community-based advocacy groups must remain vigilant in holding institutions accountable and ensuring that progress is not reversed at the local, state, or federal levels. 

The Work Continues: A Call to Action

International Women’s Month is not just a time for reflection—it is a time for action. The DEI backlash is not an isolated trend; it is part of a broader effort to weaken the economic, political, and legal power of women and people of color. But history shows that every attempt to silence us has been met with greater resistance and innovation.

The way forward is clear: we must protect women’s economic autonomy, demand legal equality, and reject any return to the past. This is not just about keeping the doors open—it’s about building a future where those doors cannot be shut again. 

The fight for equity is far from over. And if history is any indication, we are just getting started.

Regards,

Melody