ap photo President Donald Trump throws pens used to sign executive orders to the crowd during an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington on, Jan. 20.

Hugo Balta, executive editor of The Fulcrum, whose social media platform exhibits highly factual and credible ratings from Media Bias/Fact Check, wrote in his Jan. 25 op-ed “now is the time to advance on DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] initiatives” as opposed to President Trump and Elon Musk’s anti-DEI movement.

Let’s explore Mr. Balta’s contention from a research-based and reference-laden perspective to see if his position is true or false.

First, Reuters reported on Jan. 24 that Mr. Trump issued “a sweeping executive order directing federal agencies to terminate DEI programs.” Next, on Jan. 27, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth enacted Trump’s order by eliminating DEI endeavors at the Pentagon.

The Reuters article noted if companies comply with Trump’s anti-DEI executive order, they are “exposing themselves to more discrimination lawsuits by workers.” Companies who abandon DEI policies are specifically violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, religion, color and national origin.

Alan Blinder, former vice chair of the Federal Reserve and economics professor at Princeton, scolded Trump for his “attacks on DEI and affirmative action” in his Jan. 28 Wall Street Journal op-ed. Every company and educational institution that depends on federal funding or holds government contracts is in legal jeopardy by following Trump’s edict.

On Jan. 27, the Wall Street Journal countered Trump’s anti-DEI and anti-affirmative action executive order by stating bluntly “discrimination in hiring isn’t allowed.” Mr. Trump has veered into the anti-woke world, which means he discounts America’s value of social justice, equal rights and equal opportunity.

Jessica Guynn, a journalist for USA Today made three observations about the new administration in her Jan. 26 column. First, Trump’s anti-DEI initiative “began in earnest during Trump’s first term and grew after he left office.” Secondly, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, “has filed dozens of legal actions against woke corporations.” Finally, Miller praises Harmett Dhillon, Trump’s lawyer to lead the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, for “suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers.”

At the Sept. 10, 2024 presidential debate, Trump alluded to illegal immigrants voting in the Nov. 5 election. According to NPR, he was making reference to the Great Replacement Theory, which has “become mainstream in the Republican Party” (Sept. 13, 2024).

Over 200 reference citations about the Great Replacement Theory exist on the internet. The New York Times states this white nationalist far-right conspiracy theory preaches “racial minorities are displacing the traditional white American population and take control of the nation” (May 15, 2022).

A May 2022 poll by Yahoo! News and YouGov revealed 61 percent of people who voted for Trump in 2020 agree with the core tenet of the great replacement theory that “a group of people in this country are trying to replace native-born Americans with immigrants and people of color who share their political views.”

Regarding immigration, Alan Blinder wrote in the Wall Street Journal “Reducing illegal immigration has been a perplexing problem for decades, has bipartisan support and began happening in the Biden administration.” In Trump’s first term he expelled 2,001,280 illegal migrants as compared to Biden deporting 4,677,460 immigrants as of July, 2024 (Newsweek, Dec. 10, 2024).

Related to the great replacement theory, an official with the U.S. Air Force confirmed to USA Today on Jan. 25 (the end of Trump’s first week of office): “The U.S. Air Force will no longer teach its recruits about the Tuskegee Airmen, the more than 15,000 Black pilots (first Black aviators), mechanics and cooks in the segregated Army of World War II.”

Trump’s edict is viewed as an attempt to erase history of active Black fighters from 1940 to 1952, who flew in over 15,000 attacks and destroyed more than 100 German aircraft. Trump’s action is reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984 dystopian novel whereby Big Brother eliminated history he didn’t like.

It gets worse about members of the great replacement theory cult. Joseph Uscinski and Casey Klofstad, political science professors at University of Miami, found in their research “those who believed in these conspiracy theories were also more likely to believe in other conspiracy theories and to be supportive of violence as a means to political ends” (LSE, Sept. 5, 2024). Jan. 6, 2021 anyone?

Research is replete that Hugo Balta’s assertion that now is the time to advance — versus retreat — DEI endeavors, is spot on. The same advancement should occur for social justice, equal rights, equal opportunity and employment discrimination based upon race, sex, religion, color and national origin.

Since a super majority of Americans are law abiding citizens, call (202-224-3121) your three Congressional delegates and request they uphold the Civil Rights Act we’ve embraced since 1964 and reject the anti-DEI, anti-woke and anti-affirmative action endeavors Trump has employed to resolve the great replacement conspiracy theory.

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Steve Corbin is a professor emeritus of marketing

at the University of Northern Iowa.