The administration of US President Donald Trump is encouraging white men to report if they have faced racial or sexual discrimination in the workplace.
The acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has called on white men to file workplace discrimination claims.
“Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or gender?” Andrea Lucas wrote on Thursday
“You may have a claim to recover funds under federal civil rights laws,” he wrote.
“The EEOC is committed to identifying, attacking and eliminating all race and gender discrimination – including against white male employees and applicants.”
Lucas’ post came about two hours after Vice President J.D. Vance posted an article that he said “describes the evil of DEI and its consequences.”
EEOC’s focus shifting under Trump
Since returning to office in January, Trump has sought to shut down diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives run by the federal government.
They argue that companies implementing such programs harm America’s white majority.
The EEOC is a federal agency created under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to address sexism and racism in the workplace.
The EEOC now emphasizes “DEI-related discrimination” on its website.
Since being named acting chair of the EEOC in January (and later becoming chair in November), Lucas has been focusing the agency’s attention on prioritizing what she calls “eliminating unlawful DEI-induced race and gender discrimination,” which is coupled with President Trump’s own anti-DEI executive orders.
Under Lucas, the EEOC is trying to address discrimination against American workers.
“Many employers have policies and practices that give priority to illegal aliens, migrant workers or nonimmigrant guest workers (guest worker visa holders) over American workers – which is in direct violation of federal employment law,” he said in a statement last month.
A study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that African American employees are 195 times more likely to file complaints with the EEOC than their white colleagues.
Pew Research Center data also shows that women earned an average of 85% of what men made last year.
Edited by: Rana Taha