Originally found at CNN.

President Donald Trump hours after swearing in this week began making good on promises to wage a war against such policies, inking an executive order banning efforts such as “environmental justice programs,” “equity initiatives” and DEI considerations in federal hiring.

The fledgling Republican White House also ordered employees of federal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility offices to be put on paid administrative leave. And DEI is in the crosshairs of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, who last year called DEI “just another word for racism.”

The changes come as wealthy corporate leaders, including billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and conservative activist Robby Starbuck, have decried diversity programs on social media. In step, some US companies – including the nation’s largest employer, Walmart – have backpedaled on some DEI initiatives, including racial equity training programs for staff and evaluations designed to boost supplier diversity.

...In the 1960s and ’70s, employees began filing discrimination lawsuits with the EEOC, and many companies started incorporating diversity into their business strategies by providing diversity training, according to a 2008 report published in the Academy of Management Learning & Education.

These diversity training efforts emerged around the time affirmative action began by executive order from President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. Although the concepts may seem similar, affirmative action is different from DEI as it required federal contractors by executive order to treat applicants and employees equally based on race, color, religion and sex.

Continue reading the original article at CNN.

Read the original research in Academy of Management Learning & Education.