Uncivil War: How DEI Became the New American Battleground

DEI did not collapse. It was deliberately distorted—and then dismantled. Once a practical framework for fairness and opportunity, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was slowly reshaped into a political symbol, stripped of nuance, and weaponized in America's escalating culture war. What followed was not failure, but backlash—engineered by pundits, politicians, and institutions that found it easier to abandon DEI than defend it. Uncivil War traces how DEI became a national battleground, moving from boardrooms into legislatures, media outrage cycles, and executive orders. It shows how language was hijacked, how good-faith efforts were diluted by performative compliance, and how the resulting distortion made DEI vulnerable to attack and erasure. Written by a veteran HR leader, this book is neither a corporate apology nor a political screed. It is an insider's account of how equity work was undermined from multiple directions—and why its dismantling reveals more about power, fear, and institutional cowardice than about merit or performance. This book is for HR professionals, leaders, and readers who want to understand how DEI became America's latest proxy war—and what its unraveling tells us about the future of work, leadership, and democracy itself.