*The “S” in ESG Is Under Attack—And Business Leaders Need to Decide Where They Stand

Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion cannot be weaponized or propagandized.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In some states, it’s not even recognized as a holiday. It’s 2026 and we still can’t agree on whether to honor a man who gave his life fighting for the basic dignity of all people.

That tells you everything about where we are.

I’m a white guy. I know that matters in this conversation. And I’m livid.

If you’re uncomfortable talking about race and equity in a business context—I get it. Most of us are. But we don’t get to sit this one out.

Here’s What’s Happening: The Weaponization of Progress

We’ve watched something grotesque happen over the past few years. Words like “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion”—concepts that simply mean everyone deserves a fair shot—have been turned into slurs. The anti-“woke” movement has tried to convince Americans that leveling the playing field is somehow oppression of white people.

It’s not. It never was. And anyone saying otherwise is either lying or deeply insecure about their own merit.

DEI isn’t about handouts. It’s about dismantling the institutional bias that has systematically excluded people of color from opportunity, wealth-building, and dignity for centuries. When you’ve had your thumb on the scale for 400 years, equity feels like discrimination. But it’s not. It’s just the scale finally being level.

I spent nearly 20 years working in Africa—not because they were African, but because they were people with nothing, and I believed we had a moral obligation to help. Justice isn’t geographically bound. It’s not conditional. And it sure as hell isn’t “woke.”

The “S” in ESG Is Under Attack

In corporate responsibility frameworks, we talk about ESG: Environmental, Social, Governance. The “S”—the Social component—measures how companies treat their people. Their workforce. Their stakeholders. Their communities.

DEI is a core part of that. It asks: Are you creating opportunity for everyone, or just people who look like the CEO? Are you building diverse teams because it’s proven to drive innovation and performance, or are you cloning the same profile over and over because it’s comfortable?

Companies with strong DEI performance outperform their peers. The data is overwhelming. This isn’t activism. It’s material risk management.

But now, because a political movement decided “woke” was a useful enemy, we’re watching corporations dismantle DEI programs to avoid being targeted.

Here’s what that means in practice: People of color—who have waited generations for the tide to turn, for critical mass to arrive, for there to be no more arguing about what’s fair—are watching progress get rolled back because white discomfort became a political weapon.

Imagine that. Imagine waiting your entire life for dignity. For equity. For a seat at the table. And then watching it get ripped away because some fragile subset of white America decided fairness threatens them.

DEI Business Case

→ Diverse teams drive innovation and better decision-making
→ Inclusive cultures improve retention and reduce turnover costs
→ Equitable opportunity expands your talent pool and customer base
→ Companies that retreat from DEI will fall behind competitors who don’t

Democracy Is a Business Issue:

This isn’t just about ROI. It’s about justice.

People of color have waited generations for equity—for a fair shot, for dignity, for opportunity that wasn’t gatekept by who they know or what they look like. Watching that progress get rolled back because of political theater isn’t just bad business. It’s a moral failure.

Right now, business leaders need to decide: Are you bending the arc, or are you capitulating to forces trying to break it?

I know business prefers to keep politics out of it. But when democracy itself is under attack—when the institutions that create stable markets, enforceable contracts, and rule of law are being dismantled—sitting on the sidelines isn’t neutrality. It’s complicity.

Your DEI programs are strategic infrastructure for long-term competitiveness in a diverse, global marketplace.

Your commitment to equity is recognizing that talent is equally distributed but opportunity is not—and companies that expand access win.

The Uncomfortable Truth This administration’s attack on DEI isn’t about merit or “going too far.” It’s about preserving hierarchy. It’s about ensuring the people who’ve always had power keep it.

If that makes us uncomfortable—it should.

Martin Luther King’s Words Burn True

Dr. King said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

He also said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

I believe that. I have to believe that. But the arc doesn’t bend on its own—it bends because people push it. And right now, we’re watching powerful forces try to break it.

The terrible agents of change—the ones who want to hold back progress because it doesn’t fit their idea of who deserves power—will always be there. They always have been. They fought abolition. They fought suffrage. They fought civil rights. They fought marriage equality. And now they’re fighting DEI.

But the light can’t go out if we don’t stop calling things as they are.

Hate Masquerading as Policy

Let’s be clear: The anti-DEI movement isn’t about merit. It’s not about “going too far” or “reverse discrimination.” It’s about preserving hierarchy. It’s about making sure the people who have always had power keep it.

When Trump’s administration attacks DEI policies, when governors ban DEI programs in state universities, when corporations quietly dismantle their diversity initiatives to avoid Fox News segments—that’s not governance. That’s capitulation to racism.

I’m a white guy saying this because we need white people verbalizing this: This administration is patently racist.

The DEI rollback isn’t nuance. It’s not “course correction.” It’s a systematic dismantling of the infrastructure that was finally creating pathways for people who’ve been locked out for centuries.

Justice is the core. Not just for civilized life, but for democracy itself. When we abandon equity, we abandon the entire premise of what this country aims to be.

The Blip vs. The Arc

Here’s what I hold onto: It’s a nasty, insecure, powerful blip—but it’s still a blip. Our values are still aligned with justice. This will make it stronger, not less. The majority of Americans believe in fairness. The companies that maintain their DEI commitments will outperform the ones that retreat. The young people watching this betrayal will remember who stood for equity and who cowered.

Dr. King said it best: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

So we don’t retreat. We don’t rebrand equity into anything that reduces it. We still call it what it is, and we fight for it—even more. Especially today.

Standing up for justice is the only way to ensure it arrives.

KJS DC This is effin’ Serious. 1.26

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