The Racial Politics of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Work

The stress, labor, and workload of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) staff and administrators in higher education never seem to end. On the one hand, colleges and universities require new and innovative infrastructures to support growing diversity on campus. On the other hand, the war against DEI wages on. DEI leaders and staff are forced into conversations about unit name changes, removing DEI rhetoric from strategic planning documents, or planning for their unit to be dissolved altogether. DEI and its workers are perpetually between a rock and a hard place. The purpose of this conceptual article is to outline precisely how DEI work is inherently shaped by White neoliberalism forces from outside but also within higher education. The premise of our argument is hegemonic Whiteness and White supremacy are at the heart of anti-DEI movements but also inherent in DEI work itself. We offer a contemporary perspective of the racialized tensions involved in doing DEI work and invite critical discussion around ways DEI practitioners might reify or challenge White logics of higher education.