The cultural tide is shifting. In boardrooms, universities, government agencies, and even in the public square, a quiet but resolute rejection of DEI—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—is gaining traction. Not because Americans have grown less tolerant, but because they’ve grown weary of ideologies that undermine excellence, insult fairness, and yield dysfunction. DEI is dying, or perhaps already dead, because it is wholly incompatible with what has always made America work: meritocracy.
Meritocracy—the principle that individuals should advance based on ability, talent, and effort—has been the backbone of this nation’s prosperity. From the founding ideals of the republic to the boardrooms of its most successful companies, meritocracy has driven achievement, fostered innovation, and rewarded excellence. It is the engine of improvement and the cornerstone of justice: that the best ideas, the hardest workers, and the brightest minds should rise.
To be clear, there is—and should always be—a place for strong non-discrimination policies. They are essential to a fair and functional meritocracy. Ensuring that no person is held back because of race, gender, religion, or any other irrelevant attribute is a moral and institutional imperative. When done right, non-discrimination policies clear the path so the best can rise without bias.
But DEI is not non-discrimination. It is the antithesis.
Where non-discrimination clears obstacles, DEI builds them. DEI ideology demands outcomes based on identity quotas, not individual qualifications. It promotes unqualified individuals to meet arbitrary diversity metrics while sidelining those with superior skills or ideas who simply don’t check the right boxes. It’s a worldview in which identity trumps merit, and symbolism trumps substance.
That’s not fairness—it’s discrimination in its most insidious form.
We are now seeing the results, and they are not pretty. Companies that lean into DEI face underperformance, shareholder losses, and disillusioned workforces. Talent walks out the door, while mediocrity is elevated. State governments that embrace DEI often find themselves mired in mismanagement, inefficiency, and economic stagnation. Across the country, Americans are living with the consequences of a system that punishes excellence and rewards optics.
The backlash is building because the reality is undeniable. People are tired of watching institutions fail while being told to celebrate their “diversity.” They are tired of being told that equity means unequal standards, that inclusion means exclusion of the best, and that diversity means uniformity of thought.
DEI is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions. It promised fairness but delivered favoritism. It claimed to uplift but only divided. It cloaked itself in justice but sowed resentment and decline. Americans are seeing through the jargon and finding clarity: we cannot succeed by denying merit.
The way forward is not through superficial box-checking but through recommitting to the timeless principles of merit, fairness, and opportunity for all. Let us protect non-discrimination. Let us smash real barriers wherever they exist. But let us never again sacrifice excellence for ideology.
DEI may not yet be buried, but its days are numbered—and good riddance.
