DEI doesn’t stand for 'didn’t earn it'

President Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion policies is making America weaker, less secure and less just.

Trump's recent firings of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown, who is Black, and the female leaders of the Navy and Coast Guard illustrate the harm caused by his anti-DEI campaign. 

The president seems to believe that straight white men without disabilities advance in their careers based on merit, while everyone else is often unqualified and advances despite poor performance because of DEI mandates. It’s as if, in Trump's mind, DEI stood for “didn’t earn it.”

A look at the records of Brown and the two fired female service chiefs — Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan — shows all three are highly qualified and earned their leadership positions based on their records, not race or gender. They should never have been fired. 

DEI policies right the wrongs of the past. For example, it would have been impossible for Black people and women to become senior military leaders during most of our nation’s history.   

Black men have served in all of America’s wars, but their roles were limited for no reason other than racism. Our armed forces were racially segregated until 1948.

While women served as cooks, nurses and in other non-combat roles to support our military early in U.S. history, they weren’t allowed to join our armed forces in significant numbers until World War I. It wasn’t until 2015 that all roles, including ground combat, opened up to women.  

America is unquestionably better off and more secure because of the contributions and sacrifices Black people, women and all people of color have made in our armed forces and throughout society. Yet DEI polices have been mischaracterized and demonized to appear to be unfair discrimination.  

DEI policies don’t discriminate against anyone. They simply enlarge the pool of applicants considered for jobs by expanding recruitment efforts, ensure everyone is treated fairly and gets equal consideration for assignments and promotions, make reasonable accommodations for employee success and make people of all backgrounds feel valued and included on the job.    

For example, allowing employees to work from home some or all of the time makes it easier for parents of young children and people with disabilities to hold jobs. Providing training opportunities to help employees work with a diverse workforce and overcome unconscious biases improves performance. Refusing to tolerate harassment or discrimination at work benefits everyone.     

DEI policies don’t detract from employee performance. They enhance it. By taking advantage of the talents of people of all backgrounds they benefit the government, businesses, organizations and our nation.  

Brown, Franchetti and Fagan worked to implement President Joe Biden’s policies supportive of DEI when Biden was commander in chief. This was their duty. This and the fact that none is a white man cost them their jobs.

A four-star general who has served in the Air Force since 1984, Brown was appointed our nation’s top military officer in 2023 for a four-year term — now cut short by Trump. Before that, he had been appointed by Trump in 2020 to lead the Air Force. Earlier, he had been a fighter pilot with more than 2,900 flying hours, including 130 hours in combat. 

Brown’s recording of a four-minute video in 2020, following the police murder of George Floyd — an unarmed Black man — reportedly angered Trump. In remarks meant to educate non-Black members of the military, Brown recounted obstacles he has faced over the course of his life because of his race. He said later that he recorded the video after his son asked him what he was going to say about Floyd’s murder.

Franchetti was fired Feb. 21 along with Brown. The four-star admiral was the first woman to lead the Navy and, like Brown, had been appointed by Biden to a four-year term in 2023. She joined the Navy in 1985, going on to command a guided missile destroyer, a destroyer squadron and two aircraft carrier strike groups. She also served as vice chief of naval operations.  

Fagan, who had become the first female Coast Guard commandant and the first woman to head any military service branch in 2022, was fired one day after Trump returned to the White House. The four-star admiral joined the Coast Guard in 1985. She was evicted from Coast Guard housing with only three hours' notice because “the president wants her out of quarters,” a source told NBC News.

There’s no question that Brown, Franchetti and Fagan were casualties of Trump’s war on DEI.

Before he became defense secretary, Pete Hegseth — then a Fox News weekend host —complained that DEI policies, which he characterized as “woke,” weaken the military and make it less able to fight wars. Questioning why Brown became head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth wrote in a book: “Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt.”  

And in a November podcast interview, Hegseth said of Brown: “First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs ... Any general that was involved, general, admiral, or whatever that was involved in any of that DEI woke shit has got to go.” 

Hegseth called Franchetti “a DEI hire” in 2024 and “another inexperienced first.” Yet the new Defense secretary is far less experienced. He was five years old when Franchetti joined the Navy. He ended his service in the Army National Guard in 2021 with the rank of major.  

Support for DEI also cost Fagan her career. A senior official in the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Coast Guard told Politico Fagan was fired for an “excessive focus” on DEI that diverted “resources and attention from operational imperatives,” and for failing to deal with border threats, cost overruns and delays in some programs.    

We should all be able to agree that all Americans who volunteer for military service and risk their lives in defense of our nation are patriots who deserve our gratitude and respect. Brown, Franchetti and Fagan are among them. They represent the best of America and their purge over DEI hysteria is a national disgrace.

Trump’s war on DEI needs to come to an end, though I don’t expect he’ll ever declare a cease-fire. This war against our own citizens hurts us all. 

Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of “Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.”