Written by Bianca Flowers

(Reuters) – As the United States prepares to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and fight for equality, civil rights leaders are organizing an effort to confront policies expected from President-elect Donald Trump that they believe will undermine decades of progress. .

Implementing mass deportations and dismantling diversity initiatives and programs have become priorities of the Republican Party’s agenda. Trump has said he intends to challenge policies to promote diversity at companies and universities when he takes office, and he often attacks what he calls a “woke” culture, a term that refers to those focused on racial and social justice but is used by conservatives to disparage progressives. Policies.

Activists and organizations are holding rallies leading up to MLK Day and holding meetings with state lawmakers to strategize on how to protect policies and avoid funding cuts to social service programs that largely support Black and Latino communities. They are also planning counter-challenges against companies that have rolled back or canceled diversity initiatives.

“Our attention and focus will be on his policy announcements,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. “We will resist and oppose.”

Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With the Senate and House of Representatives controlled by Republicans, Trump has the executive authority to implement policy from his first day in office. However, experts say some measures may be subject to legal and constitutional challenges because they cannot override laws passed by Congress and require compliance with judicial rulings.

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which coincides with Trump’s swearing-in on Jan. 20, is a rare event that has only happened twice in history. The last time this happened was former President Barack Obama’s second term. The second inauguration of the country’s first black president was seen by many as a symbol of progress toward civil rights.

Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, told Reuters that this day will serve as a dual moment to honor her father’s legacy of nonviolence and unity, while calling on Americans to continue the struggle.

“we [have] “It’s an opportunity to take seriously what my father tells us as a nation — to hold strong to those ideals that he taught us,” King said. “Don’t forget that they showed us that it is possible to keep moving forward and fighting for freedom, justice and democracy – to cultivate, protect and develop them.”

patriotic an act (WA:) The network’s founder, Rev. Al Sharpton, emphasized the importance of policymakers and grassroots leaders reevaluating their approach and unifying. “We don’t fight without changing legislation,” Sharpton said. “It takes time, but it happens.”

Some Democratic lawmakers have already issued state mandates to support nondiscrimination and equal opportunity, said Kimberly Conway, senior policy counsel at the ACLU.

“We call on them to go further on those mandates.”

Some companies that implemented diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer canceled their programs over the past year after pressure from anti-DEI conservatives. Walmart (NYSE:.N), the nation’s largest employer, faced intense criticism from civil rights activists after announcing it would rescind some of its diversity policies — including from a group of shareholders who wrote a letter to Walmart’s CEO this week.

As political pressure shifts toward leveraging leverage over companies, Sharpton said traditional regulatory tactics — similar to the Montgomery bus boycott — could pressure companies to reconsider their actions by targeting their bottom lines.

“We are forming a committee with other civil rights groups that will study for 90 days, and the companies will announce that they are exiting DEI. You can follow the Trump philosophy, but it will cost you.”

Supporters of Trump’s proposals argue that some DEI initiatives amount to discrimination. Camilla Moore, president of the Georgia Republican Black Council, who is attending the inauguration, said she looks forward to the policy actions Trump will take.

“I believe the Trump administration should consider removing any remaining barriers. There should not be any barriers between me and a white person that prevent us from achieving our dreams.”

Trump repeatedly claimed that he “was the best president for black people since Abraham Lincoln,” often pointing to low black unemployment numbers and programs initiated during his first term. Some supporters also credited him with passing criminal justice legislation to address mass incarceration, such as the First Step Act, a bipartisan bill on reforming sentences that disproportionately affected Black men — an initiative advocates have pushed lawmakers for decades.

Claiborne Carson, a historian at Stanford University who edited and published a biography of King, said it was clear there would be no major civil rights legislation in the near future. “What we will have is a different kind of society,” he said. “It is up to us to decide whether it will become more equal or less.”