Taking a small stand against subtle racism

Published July 4, 2025

Let me say up front that I know that, as a freelancer, “the client is always right.” If I don’t like a job I can decline it or fire the client. That said, sometimes I think it’s important to … if not make a stand, at least not remain silent.

Let me explain.

I have a company client that does private work — i.e., nothing to do with government, government funding, government approval, etc. I’ve helped build its website. The company has a diversity program, where it looks to hire (or offer internships to) people of color. It even has a vice president of diversity.

I was asked the other day to edit its diversity-program page. In this political climate, it decided, it had to remove mention of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs or efforts.

Once again, this isn’t a company that works with government. The change is simply because, for want of a better explanation, some chuckleheads in Washington are racist. There is no reason to make this change other than, “I guess it’s OK to be less equitable and inclusive now.”

If you have a DEI program, or just a diversity effort, and you undercut it when the wind changes, it means you have no real principle; you just have political expediency.

You should be doing good because you believe it’s the right thing to do. Your position shouldn’t change just because “the climate” changes briefly.

To quote from “Hamilton”:

“But when all is said and all is done, Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.”

Have some backbone.

(Obviously there are (sort of) exceptions. If you’re an organization that needs to work with government officials, it (sort of) makes sense that you have to change your tone from administration to administration. You’re not expected to have principles other than “Help our members.”)

So what did I do? I changed the page per the client’s wishes. But I added the following to the top:

“While XYZ Company currently does not support the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we continue to try to change the face of the widget-making industry by opening doors to students who might otherwise be excluded.”

If you’ve decided to remove DEI, have the guts to own it. Say, “We no longer support DEI” or “We have decided to end our DEI program and reassign the VP of diversity to ‘Special Projects’.”

Of course my language didn’t last, but that’s OK. As I implied above, I couldn’t make a stand, but I didn’t have to remain silent.

Not everyone can afford to see something and say something. But for those of us who can, I guess it’s time to think about why we wouldn’t remain silent.

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