Programs to promote ethnic diversity on college campuses are being banned or restricted in a growing number of US states as conservatives no longer want to hear about affirmative action on college campuses, in the latest episode of the US’s “culture wars,” AFP reported, citing Agerpres.

The debate is between the left, which advocates strong support for minority students who are victims of America’s growing inequality, and the right, which is on the offensive against anything they consider “woke,” claiming a meritocracy that should be blind to issues of race . .

“The idea of ​​(imposing) discrimination today to fix yesterday’s discrimination is fundamentally wrong,” Jordan Pace, a local right-wing South Carolina Republican, told AFP.

The politician is calling on his state to follow the example of ten other states, with Florida in first place, that have adopted such reforms, a new iteration of the social conflicts that are dividing American society in this election year, as well as on LGBT+ issues.

The “primary target” of hunting these diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at public universities “is people of color,” said Ricky Jones, a professor of pan-Africanism at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

Last June, the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, undoing one of the great achievements of the civil rights struggle.

“We don’t like the idea of ​​judging people based on fixed characteristics, whether it’s gender, race, height, etc.,” said Republican Jordan Pace. “We are a very meritocratic society,” he said.

But in the face of a history marked by slavery and segregation, which have been the source of strong inequality to this day, many American institutions – companies, universities – have implemented programs to promote the integration of minorities into the ruling class.

Repeal of “affirmative action” that is divisive in the US, as well as its adoption

Carly Reeves, 19, was the beneficiary of a team that told her, “You deserve to be here,” when she started at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. In a statement to AFP, the young woman recalled that she was the first in her family to go to university, and that when she got there, she felt the professors “didn’t think I belonged here”.

In addition to this protection measure, there are special scholarships that are important to many African American families. Many students go to university “just because of the DEI (programs),” she said. But on March 15, Kentucky elected officials voted in favor of a law limiting those programs, and a young woman co-organized a protest on campus.

“I felt it was my duty to inform the students, to say: there are these people who literally want to drive us off campus, we have to do something,” she said.

Such a law was not isolated. In early March, the University of Florida effectively ended its diversity programs and jobs, a direct result of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crackdown on what he calls “wokeness ideology.”

The same thing happened in Texas. Following suit, as in Idaho, Alabama’s governor last week passed a local law banning all DEI programs at public universities.

“I’m very concerned,” Stephanie Ann Shelton, who works on these issues at the University of Alabama’s School of Education, told AFP. Although restrictions in the passed law will allow her to maintain some diversity awareness courses for future teachers, she is concerned about the “freedom of teaching.”

Donald Trump put the ideology of “awakening” at the center of his election campaign

The Alabama law, in addition to closing diversity offices at public universities, prohibits them from forcing staff and students to subscribe to “divisive concepts,” including the idea that “one should apologize because of one’s race.”

This is how its critics present the concept of “white privilege”, according to which white people in Western countries automatically benefit from social, political or economic privileges. Failure to comply with these provisions may result in dismissal, clearly spelled out in the law.

In the midst of the campaign, candidate Donald Trump wants to bring these reforms to the federal level. “From day one,” the Republican said on March 16, “I will sign an executive order to end federal funding to any school that espouses critical race theory or transgender insanity.”

Ricky Jones, a professor of pan-Africanism, fears very specific consequences: With all these laws, “there are a lot of black students who won’t apply to Florida” and other places. And warns of a possible “rollback” of the United States in the racial issue.