BFP Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Brooklyn for Peace adamantly condemns attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in government, education, and at the corporate level. DEI traces back to affirmative action initiatives during the JFK and LBJ administrations, and even before that, to laws supporting veterans after World Wars I and II. Today, attacks on DEI are based on claims that programs intended to combat discrimination are themselves discriminatory, particularly against white Americans. Research shows, however, that people of color and women are still hired and paid at notably lower levels than white men. Cutting DEI programs and firing workers who advance DEI will only continue this discrimination.

Attacks on DEI have been used to ban books and limit academic freedom in violation of the First Amendment. One prominent example is the removal from the Naval Academy Library of 381 books, including Maya Angelou’s acclaimed I know Why the Caged Bird Sings as well as books about the Holocaust and histories of feminism, civil rights and racism after an order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. As the University of Michigan’s National Center for Institutional Diversity states, attempts to limit DEI serve “as an entry point into higher education institutions to further disrupt and dismantle academic freedom” by limiting the teaching of such “divisive concepts” as gender studies, systemic racism, the Middle East and almost any LGBTQ+ subject.

We must defend Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion!

Brooklyn For Peace Board of Directors
June 6, 2025