The Reintegration of Segregation
On March 20th, 2025, NPR first reported that Trump removed a requirement prohibiting segregated facilities in new government contracts. This was implemented in a public memo that went overlooked. The change comes after Trump revoked diversity and affirmative action practices in the federal government from the previous administration. While the termination of this clause may come with little surprise, its implementation is no less disheartening. Already, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institutes of Health have notified staff overseeing federal contracts that they should begin instituting the changes outlined in the executive order.
The clause itself (Clause 52.222-21) is part of a broader document titled Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which is the primary regulation used by all executive agencies in their purchase of supplies and services. It states:
“The Contractor agrees that it does not and will not maintain or provide for its employees any segregated facilities at any of its establishments, and that it does not and will not permit its employees to perform their services at any location under its control where segregated facilities are maintained”
Although the administration has gotten rid of the clause, they are not able to get rid of the federal and state laws that maintain that segregation remains illegal. In the status quo, all businesses operating within the U.S. are still subject to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state anti-discrimination laws.
While the deletion of the clause is worrisome in and of itself, its implementation has invoked more cause for concern. Typically, significant changes to federal contracting rules require a public notice period of 45 to 90 days, which allows agencies, legal experts, and the public to provide feedback. This lack of notice is why the change went unnoticed for so long, with the administration attempting to curtail the expected backlash by limiting the public’s ability to speak out against it.
Although this is not the first regressive policy Trump has enacted, it poses a new list of concerns for the population. The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned the move, stating the order “is not only undoing decades of federal anti-discrimination policy…but also marshaling federal enforcement agencies to bully both private and government entities into abandoning legal efforts to promote equity and remedy systemic discrimination.” Furthermore, experts warn that this will weaken federal oversight, and set precedent to where civil rights protections are no longer considered a given. For contractors, the removal of the clause also opens the door to potentially segregate transgender persons or other demographics.
This decision follows multiple executive orders from Trump aimed at rolling back diversity and inclusion policies, which include:
- Terminating diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, positions, and programs in the federal government
- Terminating equity-related grants and contracts
- Repealing prior executive orders designed to ensure equal opportunity in the workplace
While DEI has been at the forefront of the U.S. political conversation, they still lack a developed understanding by the majority of the population. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs are not quotas, which are illegal. DEI programs and initiatives are strategies to equalize opportunities for groups of people who are unfairly disadvantaged, such as:
- Engaging in broader outreach and recruitment measures to expand a college applicant pool
- Adopting a policy to only focus on necessary skills and qualifications in hiring
- Providing training to ensure that healthcare providers can effectively treat patients of all backgrounds
This isn’t the first, second, or even third time that Trump has removed or prohibited diversity-related clauses. At the end of his first presidency, in 2020, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting certain diversity training that the administration said amounted to “divisive, anti-American propaganda”. Contractors found in violation of this order risked their contracts being suspended or canceled. Not only was this order a rollback on decades of historic precedent protecting DEI policies and equality, but it also foreshadowed the significant regression of diversity policies Trump would later make in his second term.
While we are still waiting to see how this policy change will play out, it is important that we stay vigilant of the numerous policies which may be implemented against our knowledge. This is not Trump’s first policy that has rescinded progress, nor will it be the last. However, it will remain our duty to persist in the resistance to these changes.