DEI has made the Democratic Party less diverse | Opinion

For all the Democratic Party’s talk about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the 2024 election results show that their voter base has ironically become less diverse. Exit polls show Democrats have lost ground across a wide range of voter groups — Hispanics, Asians, blacks and the working and middle classes. The only demographic where they made significant gains at the presidential level were college-educated white voters. So what went wrong?

DEI experts have told us for years that viewing racial issues through the lens of colorblind equality overlooks the unique struggles of oppressed groups. They claimed that without directly addressing racial disparities, often through discrimination against majority groups, there would be no real progress. It turns out they were wrong.

Because they embraced the DEI agenda, Democrats were too busy trying to appear diverse to actually address the concerns of diverse groups of people. Prioritizing minority “representation” meant compromising on the quality of their candidate pool. Before President Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate, he specifically said he would prefer to select a candidate “of color and/or a different gender.” The media hailed Harris’ election as a “historic” choice of the first Black and Asian woman to be nominated for vice president, despite her being one of the most unpopular candidates among Democrats in 2020. And in 2024, Democrats paid a heavy price for selecting a candidate based on his identity rather than his merits.

The Democrats’ sacrifice of merit for their identity only angered minority voters in their base. Minority voters have grown tired of the paternalistic attitudes that DEI-obsessed progressives have promoted.

Academics infamously tried to force the gender-neutral term “Latinx” on Hispanics. Coined around 2004, the term gained prominence over the last decade, with Merriam Webster adding the word to its dictionary in 2018. However, Hispanics consistently refused to be referred to as “Latinx.” Academics and progressives ignored their complaints. And now a recent study shows that Hispanics are less likely to vote for candidates who use the term.

Democrats’ focus on identity politics also alienated Asian American voters. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled against racial discrimination in college admissions, many Democrats expressed disdain for the decision. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the decision “a huge obstacle in our country’s path to racial justice.” What they effectively conveyed to Asian Americans—who, the court found, were disproportionately penalized by affirmative action—is that Democrats and elite institutions would not stand up for them against racial discrimination. Additionally, in 2020, Asian Americans were on the front lines of the fight to defeat California’s Prop 16, which would have restored affirmative action at the state’s public universities.

Although black voters remain a key voting bloc for Democrats, the Trump campaign still made surprising gains with the group — particularly black men. Perhaps the infantilizing rhetoric that Democrats regularly use toward black people can provide a clue as to why these voters have begun to turn away from the party. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s faux pas insinuating that black children in the Bronx don’t know what computers are perfectly illustrates how demeaning the Democrats are of the black community. Just weeks before the election, former President Barack Obama publicly shamed black men who supported Trump over Harris. If Democrats continue down this path, they risk pushing black voters into the arms of the Republican Party, just as they did with Hispanics and Asians.

Ironically, the whole emphasis on DEI seemed to resonate most with college-educated white voters, who remained a Democratic stronghold in 2024. In other words, DEI was never really about helping minorities; It was about making wealthy white elites feel better about themselves.

As much as the media, universities and some Democratic leaders want to attribute the results of the 2024 election to racism and sexism, the truth is that Democrats are out of touch. Voters, including minority voters, were worried about inflation and border security, and Republicans addressed those issues. Ignoring these concerns and doubling down on DEI will only continue to make the Democratic coalition less diverse.

Neetu Arnold is a Paulson Policy Analyst at the Manhattan Institute and a Young Voices contributor. Follow her on X @neetu_arnold

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.