A coalition of state officials and business leaders are publicly calling on Fortune 1,000 companies to end their controversial workplace policies.
The letters come as Democrats and Republicans publicly battle over Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, including at the country’s biggest companies.
Some companies have rolled back the policies of late.
“The divisive and discriminatory ideology at the root of DEI has caused some of our country’s most prominent companies, like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ford, and Toyota, to pull back on their DEI programs,” Jeremy Tedesco of the conservative legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement Monday.
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee led one letter, with officials from 15 states calling on businesses to end their DEI policies, which have become increasingly common and controversial and range from simple cautions against racism to full-throated condemnation of whiteness and promotion of transgenderism.
"Surveys have shown that employees have the same negative attitudes toward DEI programs," the letter said. "For example, the Freedom at Work Survey conducted by Ipsos and released by Viewpoint Diversity Score found that a plurality (40 percent) of employees say DEI divides, rather than unites, colleagues."