Do Or DEI: Trump's Assault On Diversity Divides America

Republican enmity to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is premised on the suspicion that the people it rewards do not merit their success, while also depriving more deserving candidates from opportunities because they are not in a minority (Credit: AFP)

For President Donald Trump's allies, his crackdown on the "illegal and immoral discrimination" of equal opportunities programs reflects a shifting US electorate that has lost patience with ineffective and performative political correctness.

For Trump critics, however, it is a frontal assault on civil rights that will chill efforts to create a fairer country, dismantling decades of affirmative action that they argue led to a more skilled, representative workforce.