How can the attacks on DEI affect the Black Community?

Did you know what DEI was before Trump?

• 0%No, but I have heard of it
• 0%Yes
• 0%Not a clue

I will admit, I have been one of those Americans that generally tunes into politics exclusively during the presidential election, and rarely before or after.

However, the recent and rapid change in the country’s racial climate due to the new president’s enacted and pending executive orders is starting to change that for me.

I couldn’t stay ignorant to how I, or my community, would be affected in the upcoming years.

“DEI” Stands for Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion

The premise of its creation is rooted in the systemic racism and inequality minority communities have persevered since the inception of The United States of America.

It is an attempt, and in many cases has been effective, to even the playing field — one that “White” America has had a head-start on for over 400 years.

Contrary to the ignorance afforded to some who benefit from “White Privilege”, racism in America did not die with the end of slavery, the Jim Crow era, or the end of segregation.

Even within the last decade we have experienced heights of racial tension instigated by misinformation and manipulation of the public that could’ve potentially foreshadowed a civil war.

Lack of justice throughout all aspects of life for minorities highlights the pervasiveness of prejudice and bigotry by numerous instances of:

• police brutality

• civil brutality akin to hate crimes

• controversial marketing strategies

  
  

This is Not “Race-Baiting”

This is an informed opinion, one rooted in factual history.

A history this government is so desperately trying to erase.

Honorable mentions from recent years would be the controversy coined “Critical Race Theory”, and the erasure and reinstatement of Jackie Robinson’s story from the page of the Department of Defense.

Due to the new DEI regulations, the Department of Defense (DOD) was pressured to also remove acknowledgement of the Tuskegee Airmen, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers.

Throughout history Black Americans have made many contributions to the advancement of the nation through:

innovations, inventions, policy inception and initiation, music, ect. Many of them have either lacked recognition or had their credit stolen.

There are Boards of Education right now in 2025 scattered across the country that have altered or even emitted “Black History” in their curriculum to uphold a “white-washed” version of history that benefits their preservation of self-perception and dignity.

Racism is Not Dead, and Its Effects Are Long-Lasting.

“It didn’t happen to you, get over it. Your community has come so far. Slavery is over.”

How many times as a Black American have you heard these comments, read them, or as a non Black American said them yourself? Even if it did not happen to this generation, the effects from the many generations it did happen to are far reaching, and long lasting.

Let’s start with the enormous wealth gap between the average Black household versus the average White household, then we’ll dissect it.

Aside from the lack of financial education within the Black community specifically, there is also redlining, underfunded education systems, mass incarceration, police brutality, and lack of quality healthcare to name a few battles.

Redlining and Black Generational Wealth

The systemic discriminatory practice of denying mortgages, loans, insurance policies, and other financial services to Black and other minority groups is defined as “Redlining”.

Why is this important to the economic suppression of the community?

Homeownership is a cornerstone to wealth building. It allows for stability, equity investments, rental income, and retirement planning. Renting relinquishes control over housing security, which also increases mental health risks.

Businesses in these redlined areas also struggled to attain loans, resulting in limited job opportunities and economic growth within these communities.

Due to limited income and employment opportunities, health care services became less accessible to many. It was common for jobs that pay a higher wage to also offer health care plans available to their employees. Naturally someone without one of those jobs would either have to come out of pocket for services, or purchase their own insurance policy unsubsidized by their employer.

Low property values also affect the quality of education in the district because public schools are funded by property taxes. The underfunding of schools affects developing children well into adulthood; education is often seen as the foundation for opportunity and economic mobility.

In order to climb Maslow’s Hierarchy to self-actualization you have to successfully attain each level, the first being basic requirements for human survival: food, water, shelter, sleep, and clothing.

Education Disparities Created Out of Poverty

Rent and living expenses account for a majority of the average urban Black families’ paycheck, leaving minimal left over for extra curricular activities.

Sometime’s attending school and other enriching after school programs can be considered one of those activities when a child is pressured to help financially support their families. This has been the case for many in the past, and currently.

Poor education leads to fewer job opportunities, lower wages, and higher likelihood of economic instability in adulthood.

Black and minority communities have on average a higher rate of highschool dropouts than the rest of the country. They are more likely to drop out due to lack of quality resources, over-policing, and socio economic challenges. This has been shown to negatively affect their lifelong employment and financial projection if they have not been homeschooled, or trained in trade-skills, or financial literacy.

Black students who have successfully graduated highschool still face challenges entering prestigious universities. Those schools tend to provide better career networking, as well as jobs paying a livable wage if they choose not to attend college.

When you are struggling for basic survival it becomes increasingly difficult to focus on anything else that may propel you to higher levels of thought processes and life fulfillment.

Aside from poverty, lack of education is also a risk factor for criminal activity. It is not uncommon to see increased police presence as a security measure in urban schools, and less school counselors, when compared to more affluent schools.

Urban schools also tend to implement harsher disciplinary actions more than suburban schools, such as suspensions and expulsions in comparison to restorative practices.

During these disciplinary periods when students are removed from a safe and supportive educational setting they can potentially lose their motivation or emotional attachment to school and education, and be exposed to environments that involve criminal activity.

Some predominantly Black schools have disciplinary policies that lead to law enforcement involvement. The same instances may have been managed within the educational setting in different districts.

Factors including insufficient school budgets to provide proper mental health support for an overwhelming amount of students enduring the conditions of impoverished neighborhoods increase the likelihood of criminalization, rather than rehabilitation.

Accessibility and Distrust in Healthcare

The lack of affordable, and nutritious, food choices has been a major contribution to the leading causes of death in the Black community.

According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease, cancer, and stroke are the top three leading causes of death outside of homicide. These conditions are influenced by a complex combination of genetics, lifestyle factors, socio economic conditions, and disparities in quality healthcare.

The Black community is disproportionately affected by these conditions largely due to the lack of supermarkets, over saturation of fast-food restaurants and liquor stores, and lack of education on nutrition.

Many of the available food options in urban neighborhoods are processed, high in fat, high in sugar, and high in salt.

Elevated cholesterol levels and high blood pressure can be caused from diets high in salt and fat; both are a key risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Cancer has an array of risks spanning different aspects of life. However, it has been generally agreed that processed meats and red meats, excessive alcohol consumption, and diets low in fiber are associated with an increased risk for cancer.

Those who do have access to healthcare, and especially mental healthcare, can sometimes also display distrust in the system.

Historically, the Black community has been subjected to non consensual medical experimentation and eugenic practices dating back to the era of slavery.

The Tuskegee Experiment is one that highlights the possibility of information being intentionally withheld from the patient for a motive — in this case being able to observe the life span and effects of the syphilis disease.

Planned Parenthood was born from the idea that women should have more control over their reproductive lives, and it allowed women in impoverished communities to have access to birth control and abortions when they would not have.

Whether or not the Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was influenced by racial eugenics, the company was founded during the era of eugenics. Eugenics is the movement that aimed at selective population control and weeding out “undesirable” bloodlines.

There has been controversy surrounding the certainty that the promotion of Planned Parenthood to Black women was solely influenced by women’s health autonomy, advocacy, and accessibility rather than a covert way to control the Black population.

Institutional racism is the largest factor, outside of stigma related to mental illness, for distrust in the American healthcare system. Studies have shown that Black patients often receive less pain management, fewer diagnostic tests, and less aggressive treatments when compared to White patients due to lack of cultural competence among healthcare staff and their biased stereotypes.

Possible Solutions For Protection

Keeping the previously mentioned effects of racism on the quality of life for Black Americans and other minorities in mind, the revocation of DEI threatens to undo the progress civil rights activists have fought for over the last century. This initiative was put in place to “even the playing field” for lack of better words. Access to better housing, education, and employment has given the American majority hundreds of years of advantage on opportunities to increase their wealth and quality of life satisfaction.

Ways to protect against any declines in the community over the coming years may include pooling resources, eliminating gatekeeping of financial literacy, increase in Black privately owned healthcare practices and schools, increase Black politicians, and this may be an unpopular opinion — but also an increase in Black police officers.

Throughout Black history there have been numerous successful “Black towns” that had their own thriving economies and education — including the famous Black Wall Street. These towns have methodically been targeted, intimidated, and obliterated from the face of the country due to fear of its growing success.

Black communities need to pour into their Black businesses, and in turn Black businesses need to pour into their communities.

There needs to be a collective effort from each individual family, up to the local politicians they elect, to set aside capital investments exclusively for the interests of furthuring the success of their community.

There are growing communities locally and virtually that are teaching people how to grow their own produce affordably; enhancing nutritional intake and civic autonomy.

Community leaders in various major cities around the country are starting urban food gardens open for the public.

Having control of where your food is coming from helps combat the health issues that could follow. However, it’s one thing to have the resources available, and another to use them to your benefit. Your food is your medicine, as well as your poison.

An inspirational sight is seeing the increase in Black women entrepreneurs in the past decade. It’s even more beautiful to see many of them holding masterclasses, mentorships, panels, networking events, and various other forms of distributing their knowledge and expertise whether it be for free or at a ticket price.

Not only do these settings share business advice, they help with the personal development that allows the foundation to run business and one’s life more effectively and efficiently.

Gatekeeping wisdom on the advancement of Black generational wealth, as well as personal life satisfaction, is a major disservice to the community.

Taking it a step further, it would be progressive to hold panels and conferences around collectively investing in “buying back the block”. Many urban areas have an abundance of homes that have been listed for foreclosure or auction, or below the market value of the general area.

Gentrification is the process of more affluent, or higher socioeconomic status residents gradually moving into a low-income neighborhood resulting in the increase of property value, local and business investments, and the overall cost of living in the area. Historically gentrification has been initiated by non-minorities. The same can be done within our own community by those who are of higher socioeconomic status, allowing the preservation of the neighborhood’s culture and identity.

Not only should Black real estate investors be “buying back the block”, they should also be investing in black owned private healthcare facilities and schools. Black and minority health care professionals have been shown to have more satisfactory relations with patients of similar background. This is due to a decrease in bias and prejudice in medical practices, and increase in patient care and trust building through cultural sensitivity.

Private schools have control over their curriculum and do not have to answer to the state or federal government regarding which topics they can or cannot cover. This will allow black and minority communities to effectively learn about their history in ways that will empower them and encourage them to attain self-actualization. It can provide more mental health support to students by feeling represented, advocated for, and understood in their educational settings.

Families can start by utilizing pooled community resources and education on financial literacy to combat some of the pending effects from recent litigation.

However, voting in all levels of the government is imperative to supporting these efforts. Civil liberties can only be taken away, or granted, through politicians and they are enforced by police officers or various law enforcement agencies. Representation is a major factor in the community’s voice being heard.

This does not mean vote for anyone Black, or minority.

This means do the due diligence.

Do the research, do the “deep-diving”, understand which candidates align with community values and hold community based fundraisers to support them.

“Big-Money” and lobbyists control the government because power flows where money flows. With the amount of capital this community spends on the entertainment and food industry, we can afford to rethink where we spend our dollars when our lives — literally — depend on it.

Written by

Jewelz Alizè Lopez

B.A in Public Health Education & Psychology

Model & Producer