Oklahoma took a stand in opposition to variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) final month. The state’s governor, Kevin Stitt, signed an govt order defunding DEI efforts in public faculties and universities and banning it in different state companies.

He stated the transfer would take “politics out of schooling” and encourage “equal alternative reasonably than promising equal outcomes.” Affirmative motion itself has been banned within the state since 2012.

This newest govt order doesn’t goal scholar organizations, but it surely does ban state sources from getting used for variety coaching and asks for a assessment of present DEI packages to get rid of any “non-critical personnel.” Oklahoma is following within the footsteps of Florida, Texas, South Dakota, North Carolina and Tennessee in making an attempt to curb DEI initiatives at public faculties.

However public faculties aren’t the one ones being affected; that is a part of a broader backlash to DEI that has grow to be prevalent in lots of industries, from expertise to academia to vogue. Supporters of DEI say these initiatives assist everybody get forward, particularly marginalized communities which have been traditionally disenfranchised. Critics name DEI-related work a type of discrimination.