Conservatives' long war against civil rights [View all]

[marmar]

Conservatives are flipping civil rights principles on their head
For decades, conservatives have worked to rollback the civil and voting rights that Martin Luther King Jr. upheld

By Russell Payne
Staff Reporter
Published January 19, 2026 6:30AM (EST)


(Salon) A year into President Donald Trump’s second term, the federal government is flipping the logic of civil rights on its head, using the language of nondiscrimination to destroy the legal structures that themselves aim to prevent discrimination.

Early in Trump’s second term, he moved to end federal diversity, equity and inclusion measures, popularly referred to as “DEI” programs. While DEI programs found themselves the topic of conservative ire in the 2020s, especially after the summer of 2020, the programs go back decades.

....(snip)....

For example, late last year, the administration announced that it would end a longstanding “disparate impact” policy that prohibited local governments and federally funded organizations from maintaining policies that disproportionately harmed people of color. They did so, claiming that considering race at all was a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The same backwards interpretation of civil rights legislation has played out elsewhere in the administration. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched a campaign to encourage white men to bring workplace discrimination lawsuits.

“Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex? You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws. Contact the EEOC as soon as possible,” EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said in a video last year. ....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/01/19/conservatives-are-flipping-civil-rights-principles-on-their-head/