The Political Push to Defund Diversity
In a wide-ranging conversation on Hard Knock Radio, education leader and cultural scholar Dr. Michael Benitez issued a stark warning: “We’re watching academic freedom and democracy get hollowed out in real time.”
Dr. Benitez, a former university vice president and longtime advocate for equity in higher ed, joined Davey D to break down how recent political decisions are targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs under the guise of civil rights enforcement. While framed as “guidance” rather than law, these mandates threaten funding and free expression on college campuses across the country.
“People need to understand—these are not just random executive orders,” said Benitez. “They are calculated interpretations of civil rights laws, redefined to silence critique, defund equity work, and discourage dissent.”
From ‘Guidance’ to Gag Orders
Benitez pointed out that states like Florida, Texas, and Iowa have used federal pressure as a launching pad to implement their own aggressive measures, including classroom surveillance, curriculum bans, and speaker restrictions.
He recalled being invited to give a keynote for MLK Day in Iowa, only to be handed a contract barring him from using terms like “white supremacy” or “systemic racism.” That model has since gone national.
“These contracts said, ‘Say what you want, but we won’t pay you,’” Benitez explained. “It’s economic punishment for telling the truth.”
The approach is chillingly effective. Universities now risk losing hundreds of millions in federal research funding if they’re deemed “non-compliant.” As Benitez notes, this creates a system where “even peaceful protest, even organizing around justice, is now being treated like a threat.”
Where’s the Institutional Resistance?
Hard Knock host Davey D didn’t hold back. He called out the tepid response—or total silence—from legacy civil rights groups, national education organizations, and even many progressive politicians.
“This isn’t new,” Davey said. “We had people on the show years ago sounding the alarm. The question is: where were our institutions when it mattered?”
Benitez echoed that frustration: “There’s been too much complacency. Folks got comfortable, thought DEI was permanent because it was institutionalized. But inclusion was a response to legalized exclusion—this was never guaranteed.”
The Danger of Conflating All Equity Work as “DEI”
Another major theme was the systemic erasure of identity-centered programs under the broader DEI label. From Black cultural centers to LGBTQ advocacy spaces, institutions are now being told such initiatives are discriminatory unless they’re “race-neutral.”
“Black excellence, Latino success, Indigenous sovereignty—these are not just DEI initiatives,” said Benitez. “They existed before DEI was a buzzword. But systems want to fold them all into one acronym they can eliminate.”
The danger, he says, is that “we conflate the work with the framework, and that makes it easier to defund and delegitimize the entire thing.”
Hope, Resistance, and Moving Forward
Despite the sobering tone, Dr. Benitez offered a path forward: continued resistance, intentional clarity, and collective organizing. He cited a recent lawsuit led by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) and Democracy Forward as a small but significant victory, temporarily halting some of the harsher enforcement measures.
“We have to stay the course,” he said. “This is about more than funding. It’s about people. It’s about students. It’s about the future of this democracy.”
As for marching orders? Benitez was clear: “Don’t let these systems hijack your joy. Walk through them with liberation. The work continues—with or without a name.”
Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson.