February 1, 2025
Abbott called DEI policies ‘new forms of racism.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott followed in Donald Trump’s footsteps on Jan. 31, issuing an executive order that directed state agencies like the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Education Agency to be “colorblind” and called for the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Abbott’s executive order directed those agencies to make sure their “rules, policies, employment practices, communications, curricula, use of state funds, awarding of government benefits, and all other official actions treat people equally, regardless of race.”
However, Abbott’s order also describes DEI, critical race theory, and affirmative action as “blatant efforts to divide people” as well as “new forms of racism,” the order also refers to inherent bias and cultural appropriation as racist concepts and positioned them as opponents of the constitutional right expressed in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.”
As he generally does when he signs an executive order, Abbott clarified his intentions for the edict to Texas state agencies via a press release. In his comments, Abbott positioned his order as necessary to protect against divisive radical policies, a common rhetorical device of right-wing politicians.
“DEI agendas divide us rather than unite us and have no place in the state of Texas,” Abbott claimed in a statement. “These radical policies deviate from constitutional principles and deny diverse thought.”
He continued, noting that he believes DEI divides Texans. “That is why I directed all state agencies to eliminate any form of DEI attempting to divide Texans. We must always reject race-based favoritism or discrimination and allow people to advance based on talent and merit.”
Gilbert Hinojosa, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said in his own statement that Abbott’s order is disrespectful to Black and other Texans of color.
“In a state as diverse as Texas, it is a massive disservice to our workforce to exclude DEI protections that employ veterans, people with disabilities, women, Black and Brown Texans and demographics from all walks of life,” Hinojosa said. “Instead of supporting policies that uplift our diverse workforce, he is choosing to play political games — putting ideology over opportunity and leaving countless families without a paycheck.”
Abbott’s executive order is the latest effort in his crusade against DEI, The Texas Tribune reported in January that after conservative activist Christopher Rufo shared an email that invited Black, Latinx, and Indigenous staffers and Ph.D. students to attend a conference for those groups, Abbott threatened Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh III’s job in retaliation.
On social media, in a reply to one of his supporters, Abbott described the conference as unconstitutional and threatened to remove Welsh.
Hell, no.
It’s against Texas law and violates the US Constitution.
It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone. https://t.co/g3VTUXWvLb
“It’s against Texas law and violates the U.S. Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone,” Abbott wrote.
Also in January, Abbott’s threats to cut funding for K-12 schools that promote diversity, equity and inclusion prompted at least one equity leader to push back against Abbott’s ideas about DEI.
The CEO of a Texas nonprofit, Embracing Equity, an organization that works with schools nationwide to develop anti-racist practices, Rashi Jawade, told KSAT that Abbott’s singular focus on dismantling DEI stood to make an already present disparity in Black and other teachers of color relative to the student body composition of those students even worse.
“They’re (Abbott’s anti-DEI initiatives) going to exacerbate…where we are already seeing a gap in teachers of color and students of color…In the country, 53% of students are students of color. And yet, 82% of the teaching workforce is white,” Jawade said. “And that number is exacerbated in Texas, where 73% of students are students of color. And yet, 40% of our schools across the country do not have even a single teacher of color.”
RELATED CONTENT: Gov. Greg Abbott Threatens Job Of Texas A&M President Over Concerns University Broke DEI Ban
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