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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Andy Beckett

Do Trump and co want a world reclaimed by straight white men? It’s not certain they’ll get it

Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at the Future Investment Initiative summit, Miami, 19 February 2025.
Donald Trump at the Future Investment Initiative summit, Miami, 19 February 2025. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

For people who believe that the world should be run by straight white men, these are heady times. Probably the most powerful social conservative on the planet occupies the White House again, and seems determined to drive “immoral” and “discriminatory” diversity policies out of American life.

Two years ago, the US supreme court banned the use of affirmative action in university admissions. A growing list of American and British companies, from Ford to BT to Goldman Sachs, appear to be reducing their commitment to the once fashionable corporate principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Meanwhile, Reform UK promises to “scrap DEI rules that have lowered standards and reduced economic productivity”. In politics, commerce and education, a huge, potentially lasting counterrevolution seems to be under way.

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