Gov. DeSantis Signs New Restrictive DEI Bill into Law

PASSED BY LEGISLATURE 

For generations, Black Floridians have fought to gain fair access to opportunity and HB 1001 and SB 1134 is an attack on that hard-won progress. Across Florida, local governments have used diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to address real challenges facing their communities. Cities and counties have created minority business contracting programs to ensure small businesses have access to public contracts, funded  initiatives to address public health & education disparities, supported cultural festivals that celebrate the rich diversity of our state, and established advisory boards to ensure historically underserved communities have a voice in local decision-making. That is all now at risk with the passage of this legislation.

They will tell you this is about merit. It is not. We know exactly what merit looks like in a system that was never built for us. We have overcome redlining, underfunded schools, discriminatory lending, and inequitable contracting and still built businesses, communities, and legacies. DEI did not give us what we did not earn, it created solutions to dishonest practices that blocked opportunities for Black people and other marginalized communities.

This legislation represents a dangerous expansion of state overreach. Tallahassee politicians are now trying to dictate what local communities can and cannot do to serve their own residents. Stripping local governments of the ability to respond to disparities will not create fairness, it will deepen inequality for the nearly four million Black Floridians who call this state home.

SIGNED INTO LAW

For generations, Black Floridians have fought to gain fair access to opportunity and with Governor Ron DeSantis now signing SB 1134 into law, that progress is under direct threat.

Across Florida, local governments have used diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to respond to real challenges in their communities. Cities and counties have created minority business contracting programs to expand access to public contracts, invested in addressing disparities in public health and education, supported cultural initiatives that reflect the richness of our state, and built advisory structures to ensure historically underserved communities have a voice in decisions that impact their lives.

This law puts all of that at risk.

Supporters will claim this is about “merit.” It is not. We know what “merit” looks like in systems that were never designed with us in mind. Black communities have had to navigate redlining, underfunded schools, discriminatory lending, and inequitable contracting  and still built thriving businesses, families, and institutions. DEI did not hand out opportunities, it helped level a playing field that has long been tilted.

For the nearly four million Black Floridians who call this state home, this law will not create fairness, it will deepen existing disparities, silence community voices, and limit pathways to opportunity.