As we said in November:
UCC Media Justice will oppose efforts to give more power to large corporations that threaten a true diversity of views. We will stand up against organs of government and large companies that threaten people of color, immigrants, women, trans people and others.
On Tuesday, January 21 — just one day after Martin Luther King Jr. day — new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency would be ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, embracing President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” and the chilling Office of Personnel Management Guidance regarding the Executive Order.
Chairman Carr enthusiastically trumpeted his elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion on social media and official announcements — claiming he was returning to the FCC’s core task of statutory mission. In contrast, as Commissioner Gomez cogently explained, “Let’s be clear, diversity, equity, and inclusion does not equal discrimination. It is precisely our efforts to be equitable and inclusive that strengthen our ability to fulfill our mission.” Chairman Carr may have declared the work of the Communications Equity and Diversity Council “complete” — but no doubt it would be a surprise to the three Republican FCC Chairs who initiated and sustained that work over decades.
It might be a surprise because the Commission is charged by law “to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service ….” It is impossible to do that without acknowledging the gaps: gaps that federal data and private studies have shown repeatedly to cleave along societal lines, whether they be geography, income or race. It might be a surprise to Senator Wicker (R-MS) and Senator Scott (R-NC), who championed the Connecting Minority Communities program at NTIA to connect Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, or Minority-serving institutions. It might also be a surprise because the FCC just acknowledged last year that it has a statutory obligation to collect broadcast workforce demographic data. And, as explained by the former CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “the moral case for greater diversity, equality, and inclusion in the workplace is indisputable — and just as sound is the business case.”
Carr did not just follow the Trump Executive Order; he spoke on Fox News, dividing the country into “the swamp” who disagree with the President and “patriotic Americans” who fully support an end to federal efforts to ensure all people receive equal treatment of the law.
His enthusiasm for the President’s decision was notable as the Trump Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to immediately place some federal employees on paid leave, to make plans for a reduction in force to relieve those civil servants of their jobs, and to direct all existing federal employees to report any efforts to “disguise” diversity programs, threatening “adverse consequences” for those who do not comply.
Our policy advisor Cheryl Leanza immediately spoke out upon the news:
Carr’s forceful endorsement of a less equitable society and less equitable communications policy is devastating. It is impossible to see how the Congressional directive for the FCC to serve all people ‘without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex’ can be squared with this wholesale retreat from FCC equity initiatives. It is not consistent with actions by previous Chairs, including Bush Administration FCC Chairs Martin and Powell, or President Trump’s first Chair, Ajit Pai, who created a Diversity & Digital Empowerment Advisory Committee. There was once a time when all presidential administrations would agree on the fundamental necessity of protecting civil and human rights and the protection and inclusion of all people, even if they did not agree on the exact means to do so. Anti-DEI rhetoric does the opposite. Today is a very disappointing day.
For more than 60 years, UCC Media Justice has worked to hold the federal agency that regulates media and communications to address the needs of all people — most importantly marginalized communities.
As we explained after the election, we will look to find common ground where possible at the FCC and in Congress, and build on previous bi-partisan work — whether that is for just and reasonable communications for incarcerated people or affordable broadband for low-income people and on tribal land. However, we also expect Chairman Carr to adhere to the rule of law and the U.S. constitution. And we expect him to ferret out illegal discrimination based on any and all factors in order to root it out — not to sweep problems under the rug.
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