Preserving racial privilege: whiteness and the rollback of DEI under Trump

Abstract

This article examines the Trump administration’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as a strategic effort to preserve white racial status. Analyzing the content of executive orders and political rhetoric through a critical discourse analysis, I argue that the rollbacks employ meritocratic and race-conscious language that obscures structural racism while reinforcing whiteness as normative. Framing DEI as discriminatory, the administration rearticulates race and identity as matters of individual experience. Situating this analysis within a framework of status and group protectionism, the study demonstrates how these policies function to maintain racial hierarchies under the guise of neutrality. This study emphasizes the importance of approaches that interrogate the reciprocal relationship between race, whiteness, and power and that explain how these forces shape both the perception and material conditions of social groups.

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