‘End DEI’: US launches portal for public to complain against diversity initiatives in schools

The US Education Department has launched a website called ‘End DEI’ where students, teachers, parents and others can lodge complaints regarding discrimination based on sex or race in publicly funded schools nationwide.

The website, which went live on Thursday, said that the public submissions will be used to identify areas for investigation. The Education Department also noted that the complaints will be kept confidential “to the full extent permitted by law”.

The move comes as the Donald Trump administration crackdown on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion departments across federal agencies and has suggested private enterprises follow suit, which many companies have.

On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” which mandates the elimination of all DEI initiatives within federal agencies. Since then, federal employees involved in DEI roles have been put on paid administrative leave.

‘DEI needs to go’

Tiffany Justice, Co-Founder of Moms for Liberty, the driving force behind the launch of the first-of-its-kind website, told ABC News, “DEI needs to go. DEI has re-segregated our schools in many ways, and our children are forced to see race in ways that they never did.”

“For years, parents have been begging schools to focus on teaching their kids practical skills like reading, writing, and math, instead of pushing critical theory, rogue sex education and divisive ideologies—but their concerns have been brushed off, mocked, or shut down entirely,” Justice said in the press release announcing the website’s launch.

What does DEI do?

Rights advocates say DEI programs help uplift marginalized communities by addressing historic inequities. Trump and his allies call the programs anti-merit and discriminatory against white people and men.

DEI programs have been part of workplace efforts to ensure fairer representation for groups seen as historically marginalized, such as African Americans, LGBTQ+ community members, women, disabled people and other ethnic minorities in the United States.

DEI efforts picked up pace, including in the private sector, in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

Which companies have dropped DEI?

The companies that have complied with Trump’s executive order include Warner Bros. Discovery, Goldman Sachs, Paramount, Bank of America, and Pepsi, among others.

Meanwhile, some companies are resisting the government’s direction of inclusive hiring. These include Apple, Costco, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft and more.

With inputs from agencies