America’s war on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is coming for people’s paychecks. The DEI Watchlist, which publicly identifies federal employees accused of promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, is not only fueling political outrage. But it’s also putting workers’ names, faces and professional reputations on display, potentially making it harder for them to get another job. For Black professionals, it’s another reminder that even efforts to make workplaces more equitable can come with a steep price.
Created by the conservative American Accountability Foundation, the DEI Watchlist identifies federal employees accused of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Thomas Jones, the nonprofit’s president and longtime conservative activist, told The New York Times that the list is intended to call out DEI supporters who President Donald Trump’s federal sweep might have missed.
“We wanted to just make sure we’re not just going, ‘Hey, let’s look at the people in the D.E.I. offices,’” Jones explained. “Let’s look at people who are advocates for the policy.”
The website publishes workers’ names, photographs, salaries and professional backgrounds, framing its efforts as an attempt to expose government employees. But there is a difference between holding public officials accountable and putting individual workers on display for political targeting.
As the Trump administration made dismantling DEI programs a central part of its agenda, federal health workers at agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health were among those caught in the crosshairs. Employees whose professional responsibilities included health equity and diversity initiatives suddenly found themselves publicly identified in an increasingly hostile political environment, as The New York Times reported in February 2025.
Those consequences don’t necessarily end when a federal paycheck stops coming.
The Washington Post reported on Dia Harris, a former federal chief equity officer whose appearance on the watchlist became an obstacle to finding new employment. Harris reportedly submitted more than 560 job applications after losing his position, while his public listing continued to follow him online. His name, photograph and professional history were available for prospective employers to find. A recruiter reportedly warned him that his DEI background and public profile could make hiring difficult.
For Black professionals, this carries an especially troubling resonance.
Diversity initiatives have long been a pathway toward addressing exclusion in workplaces where opportunity has not always been distributed equally. Now, workers associated with those efforts risk being portrayed as political liabilities. We’ve already told you about the hundreds of thousands of Black federal employees who were laid off during President Trump’s first year back in office. Now, the Black unemployment rate continues to climb to its fastest rate since April 2020, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The message is unmistakable: Even doing the work of making institutions more inclusive can come at a professional cost.
Nobody is arguing that government employees should be above scrutiny. But the DEI Watchlist is not simply documenting a political disagreement. It is demonstrating how easily the internet can turn that disagreement into a permanent professional penalty. And for the people whose names are on it, the culture war isn’t just political. It’s personal.
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https://www.theroot.com/the-dei-watchlist-is-the-latest-weapon-in-americas-war-2000133218