Your Inclusion Legacy: What History Will Say About Your Company

Tenea Watson Nelson, PhD
Oct 9
6 min read

Updated: Nov 17

Every era leaves a record. Leaders write it through choices, systems, budgets, and how they treat people.

Right now, the pressure is real. Policy agendas like Project 2025 and new state laws that restrict diversity efforts have pushed many companies to pause or pull back. Boards are risk-scanning, legal teams are cautious, and the noise is loud.

Yet the center holds, as employees and customers still expect fairness. Call it what you want, but the majority still want diversity, equity, and inclusion to be part of how people are hired, promoted, and supported. They reward companies that practice sustainable inclusion, meaning inclusion built into everyday work instead of side programs.

History will record this moment. It will show who protected equity when it was difficult and who stepped back. It will show which companies built stronger teams through inclusion and which relied on the myth of meritocracy to defend the status quo.

If you need a reminder of why inclusion matters, share these Unexpected DEI Benefits for Everyone with your team, then decide what you will protect, measure, and fund this year.

The DEI backlash will pass, but your inclusion legacy will not. Will your company be remembered as a champion of equity and inclusion, or as a bystander?

The Current Wave of Anti-DEI: What’s Happening Now

The backlash is not abstract. It shapes decisions in boardrooms and team meetings. Recent Executive Orders from President Trump question DEI directly. About two dozen states have restricted how schools, agencies, and contractors discuss or measure race, gender, or LGBTQ+ inclusion.

At the same time, most workers still believe in fairness. They may be divided on the label, but not the values. Legacy is built here, in the systems companies choose to protect.

How Anti-DEI Laws Are Rewriting Company Policies

Companies are rewriting playbooks to stay compliant and maintain trust. Five shifts stand out:

Training limits: In restricted states, DEI training is being rewritten as “respect in the workplace” or “anti-harassment” content to avoid legal risk. Trump’s Executive Order targeting federal DEI programs accelerated this change, even for private employers who contract with government agencies.
Data minimization: Some HR teams are removing demographic fields from applications or moving pay equity reviews under attorney privilege. Without demographic insight, bias is harder to detect.
Policy rewrites: Legal teams are reframing DEI policies, including supplier diversity, inclusive marketing, and ERG charters, to emphasize equal treatment and viewpoint neutrality, even if it was in place already.
Contracting and grants: Organizations tied to affirmative action or federal funding are reviewing DEI provisions to fit new rules while still preventing discrimination, following EEOC guidance.
Speech controls: Some workplaces now restrict conversations about race or gender to avoid claims of compelled speech. The result is fewer safe forums where employees can raise concerns early.

The tradeoff is steep. Pulling back can feel safer, but it weakens learning, trust, and innovation. Harvard Law research suggests that reducing consistency in DEI practices can increase legal risk, especially after the Supreme Court decision involving white students at Harvard and broader rollbacks of affirmative action.

Public Opinion vs. Political Pressure

Public opinion remains mixed. A 2024 Pew Research study found that while skepticism toward the term “DEI” has grown, most workers still value fairness and bias reduction. The disconnect lies in language, not in principle.

Why This Matters

Customers reward fairness. They want inclusive products and systems. When companies stay silent, trust erodes.
Talent retention suffers. The 2025 HRC Corporate Equality Index found that 26 percent of LGBTQ+ employees sought new jobs due to non-inclusive workplaces.
Investors track risk. Inconsistent inclusion signals invite instability and potential discrimination claims.

Political pressure may be loud, but reputational damage lasts much longer.

Lessons from History: When Companies Picked the Wrong Side

History does not forget. When companies resisted equality, the public and the market remembered.

Woolworth’s segregation stance sparked sit-ins that helped drive the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The chain eventually desegregated but never regained its full reputation among Black students and families who remembered its stance.
Delano Grape Strike Grape growers who opposed fair pay for farmworkers faced national boycotts that reshaped labor rights.
Tobacco companies denied harm for decades, only to face billion-dollar settlements and regulation.
Energy firms that ignored environmental harm lost public trust and talent for years.
The current Target boycott has resulted in a 33% decrease in sales and the resignation of the CEO.

Why Ignoring Civil Rights Hurts the Bottom Line

When companies turn away from equity, the costs build over time.

Lost talent: Employees leave when fairness feels optional. High turnover damages financial success and drains institutional knowledge.
Legal exposure: Weak bias controls lead to rising EEOC complaints and consent decrees.
Consumer backlash: Digital boycotts spread fast and endure. A history of U.S. boycotts shows how public pressure reshapes brands.
Innovation drag: Homogeneous teams miss signals and design for themselves instead of their markets.

The legacy hire culture that produced "nepo babies" and "legacy handouts" did not reflect meritocracy. It reflected exclusion. Today’s companies have the opportunity to correct that record by investing in fair systems.

When organizations commit to equity and inclusion, they protect both people and performance. That is the lesson learned after George Floyd’s death, when corporate silence on police misconduct and inequity in the criminal justice system cost credibility and trust.

For examples of what effective DEI looks like in practice, explore Transformation Tales: Success Stories from DEI Initiatives and Corporate Responses to Racial Profiling.

Building an Inclusion Legacy: Risk Mitigation and Leadership

True leadership is judged by what it protects under pressure. An inclusive culture risk assessment helps companies stay prepared:

Map your rules. Compare current equity and inclusion policies against new federal and state laws.
Review job criteria. Focus on equal opportunity and anti-discrimination.
Survey employees. Measure trust, fairness, and belonging.
Stress test scenarios. Plan for both policy rollbacks and rebounds.
Tighten measurement. Keep demographic data voluntary but purposeful.
Train managers. Focus on clear action steps instead of avoidance.
Publish a clear commitment. Tie inclusion directly to product quality, safety, and research outcomes.

When systems are strong, trust follows. Companies that stay clear and consistent hold their footing through policy swings and maintain credibility with both employees and customers.

How Inclusive Practices Drive Profit and Reduce Risk

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not symbolic gestures, but practical tools for better business. Research shows that diverse teams are more innovative and profitable. McKinsey’s Diversity Matters report links executive diversity to stronger returns and long-term resilience.

Inclusive systems reduce risk as well. Homogeneous teams miss patterns, overlook safety issues, and create biased outcomes, whether in algorithms, clinical pathways, or research studies.

Practical Steps to Balance Compliance with Progress

Offer voluntary learning. Connect learning to daily work.
Keep programs open to all. Standardize hiring and promotion rubrics to ensure fairness.
Collect data with purpose. Focus on equal opportunity and lawful reporting.
Support ERGs. Fund them as advisory groups that connect culture and business.
Check for bias in design. Add inclusion reviews to each stage of your product or research process.
Frame inclusion in business terms. Connect inclusion to quality, safety, and market reach.

Even in a DEI backlash environment, inclusive systems protect reputation, retention, and profitability. They also prepare your company for the next policy cycle when inclusion regains momentum.

Conclusion: Writing Your Inclusion Legacy

The record is being written right now. The Civil Rights Movement showed what silence costs, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 showed what courage can build.

Leaders today face the same decision. Measure fairly. Train managers. Protect belonging. Tie your inclusion systems to quality, outcomes, and integrity.

Quiet strength matters more than slogans. The myth of meritocracy fades when your systems are transparent, consistent, and fair.

Your inclusion legacy is the record of how your company showed courage in a difficult time. What will history say about yours?

About the Author

Tenea Watson Nelson, PhD, is an equity strategist and founder of Watson Nelson Consulting. She partners with organizations ready to move beyond surface-level actions toward systems-level redesign, embedding equity into the core of their operations.