The DEI Lie: What it Really Means

Summary

Earn Your Leisure Podcast: "The DEI Lie: What it Really Means"

Episode Overview

In the January 14, 2025 episode of Earn Your Leisure, hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings delve deep into the contentious topic of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within major corporations and the broader societal implications. Titled "The DEI Lie: What it Really Means," the episode scrutinizes the efficacy of DEI programs, their actual implementation in the corporate world, and the tangible outcomes (or lack thereof) for underrepresented communities.

---

1. Introduction to DEI Concerns ([03:49] - [05:09])

The episode kicks off with Troy Millings bringing attention to Meta's recent decision to discontinue all DEI programs. This move is presented as part of a broader pattern where major corporations are rolling back their commitments to diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Notable Quote:

Troy Millings ([03:54]): "Meta has discontinued all his DEI programs."

Following this, Troy highlights other significant changes within Meta, such as the removal of LGBTQ flags and Mark Zuckerberg’s controversial interactions, including his visit to Mar-a-Lago and the incident of removing Donald Trump from Instagram.

Quote:

Troy Millings ([04:07]): "Mark Zuckerberg goes anyway. The wind blows them first."

---

2. The Power Dynamics of Presidents and Corporate Influence ([04:16] - [06:03])

Rashad and Troy engage in a heated discussion about the real power wielded by presidents, countering the notion that a "shadow government" holds the reins of authority. They argue that the actions of top CEOs like Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg demonstrate that presidents do, in fact, possess significant influence.

Notable Quote:

Troy Millings ([04:24]): "Anybody that's black that has risen to any level of significance, they can discredit it in one sentence by saying their DEI higher."

---

3. DEI Metrics and Corporate Accountability ([06:03] - [07:26])

The hosts present stark statistics to illustrate the minimal representation of Black individuals in high-ranking positions within Fortune 500 companies and the venture capital landscape. They emphasize that DEI initiatives have not translated into meaningful inclusion or opportunities for Black professionals.

Key Statistics:

• Less than 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Black.
• Less than 0.5% of venture capital funding goes to Black-owned businesses.
• Under 1% of all money managers are Black.
• Less than 7% of the tech industry's workforce comprises Black individuals, despite representing 16% of the general workforce.

Quote:

Troy Millings ([07:20]): "Less than 1% of the capital goes to black startups."

---

4. Critique of Corporate DEI Initiatives and Fund Allocation ([07:40] - [10:35])

Rashad and Derek discuss the inefficacy of corporate DEI programs, particularly highlighting how promised funds often fail to reach intended recipients. They argue that corporations channel millions into DEI initiatives without ensuring proper distribution or impact, leading to skepticism about the true intentions behind these programs.

Notable Quote:

Rashad Bilal ([08:25]): "It was supposed to be allocated for. And when it's not allocated to those people, what's the consequence?"

---

5. The Double-Edged Sword of DEI Labels ([10:35] - [12:44])

The conversation shifts to how DEI has become a tool for discrediting Black professionals regardless of their qualifications. The hosts argue that the DEI label is weaponized to maintain systemic barriers, preventing Black individuals from ascending to significant roles despite their achievements.

Quote:

Troy Millings ([07:45]): "They don't care if you went to law school. They don't care if you graduated first in your class. They could say your DEI higher, which discredits you from actually obtaining any job of significance."

They further discuss the lack of recognition for diversity efforts outside the Black community, questioning why LGBTQ individuals or Asian CEOs like Microsoft's have not been similarly labeled under DEI.

Quote:

Troy Millings ([12:07]): "Is he [Tim Cook] Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by having somebody from the LGBTQ community. As you only hear DEI when it's a black person."

---

6. Corporate Donations vs. Tangible Outcomes ([12:44] - [14:05])

Rashad and Derek critique corporate donations tied to DEI initiatives, suggesting that while companies may publicize large financial contributions (e.g., $100 million), these funds rarely benefit the targeted communities in meaningful ways. They emphasize the lack of transparency and accountability in how these donations are managed and allocated.

Notable Quote:

Derek ([10:35]): "Anyone who says the presidents don't have power, never met anybody with power or you were uninformed."

Rashad adds that corporate financial power outpaces any individual contribution, highlighting that companies like Apple operate on massive revenue streams that dwarf typical DEI funding efforts.

Quote:

Rashad Bilal ([11:18]): "If I donated a million. But my company is allowed to make what, a hundred billion in a quarter easily."

---

7. The Future of DEI in Corporations ([14:05] - End)

The episode concludes with a discussion on the precarious future of DEI programs within major corporations. The hosts suggest that without genuine commitment and strategic allocation of resources, DEI initiatives will continue to fall short of creating meaningful change. They caution that superficial gestures without accountability mechanisms will perpetuate systemic inequalities.

Final Thoughts:

Rashad Bilal ([14:05]): "Keeping you close. Hey mom, you seen my toothbrush? Yeah, I'm almost done with it. Oh maybe too close."

(Note: The final segment includes advertisements unrelated to the main discussion and serves as a segue to the episode's conclusion.)

---

Conclusion

In "The DEI Lie: What it Really Means," Earn Your Leisure critically examines the state of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives within top-tier corporations. Through incisive discussions and compelling statistics, Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings argue that DEI programs often serve as performative measures rather than catalysts for genuine change. The episode calls for increased accountability, transparent fund allocation, and a re-evaluation of how diversity and inclusion are genuinely integrated into corporate structures to benefit underrepresented communities meaningfully.

---

Key Takeaways:

• DEI initiatives in major corporations are often criticized for being more symbolic than substantive.
• There is a significant underrepresentation of Black individuals in executive roles and access to venture capital.
• Corporate donations to DEI causes frequently lack proper allocation and oversight.
• The DEI label is sometimes used to undermine the achievements of Black professionals.
• Genuine systemic change requires more than just financial contributions; it demands strategic, transparent, and accountable actions.

---

For Listeners: If you're passionate about understanding the real impact of DEI initiatives and seeking honest conversations about systemic inequalities in the corporate world, this episode provides valuable insights and critical perspectives worth considering.

Transcript

[Rashad Bilal]

Earners. What's up? You know what's crazy? I recently discovered that I was paying for a subscription that I hadn't used in over a year. I signed up for it, completely forgot about it, and it kept charging me every single month. Thanks to Rocket Money, I not only caught that subscription, but canceled it in just a few clicks. Rocket Money has been a game changer. It saved me time, money and stress. If you're ready to take control of your finances, give Rocket Money a try. You won't regret it. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower bills so you can grow your savings. With Rocket Money, you can see all your subscriptions in one place and know exactly where your money is going. For ones you don't want anymore, Rocket Money can help you cancel them. Their dashboard gives you a clear view of your expenses across all all your accounts. So you can easily create a personalized budget, track spending trends, and get alerts for unusual activity or bill increases. And here's the best part. Rocket Money will even try to negotiate lower bills for you. They'll handle customer service and get you the savings you deserve. How easy is that? So cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com EYL today. That's RocketMoney.com EYL RocketMoney.com EYL don't wait. Don't hesitate. Head over there now. Earners what's up? Look, you know how every new year we set these big goals like saving more money, but somehow life just gets in the way? I mean, how many times have I told myself I'll stick to a budget only to see random delivery fees and subscription services eating away in my wallet? It's like the world is designed to spend our money. That's why I love Acorns. It makes saving and investing automatic so you can stick to your financial goals without even thinking about it. This episode of Earn your Leisure is sponsored by acorns. You've probably heard me talk about Acorns before, and I'm excited to share more about how it can help you too. Acorns makes it easy to start automatically saving and investing so your money has a chance to grow for you, your kids, and your retirement. Here's the best part. You don't need to be an expert. Acorns will recommend a diversified portfolio that fits you and your money goals. You don't need to be rich. Acorns lets you invest with the same spare money you've got right now. You can start with $5 or even just your spare change. You don't need a ton of time. You can create your own Acorns account and start investing in just five minutes. Basically, Acorns does the hard part so you can give your money a chance to grow. For me, Acorns has been a game changer. I remember looking at my bank statements and realizing I wasn't making any progress toward my long term financial goals. With Acorns, it was like flipping a switch. Now every little bit of spare change I spend is automatically invested over time. Those small steps have really added up and it feels good knowing I'm working toward a better future without stressing about it every day. So head to acorns.com eyl or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today. Paid client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positive actively promote Acorns Tier 2 compensations provided investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. View important [e-mail] UIL all right, let's start here.

[Troy Millings]

So Meta has discontinued all his DEI programs.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah.

[Troy Millings]

And also did a bunch of other stuff. Took like took the LGBTQ flag I think off of its thing. It did a lot of stuff. It, you know Zuckerberg went to Mar a Lago and because remember he kicked Trump off of Instagram five years ago. So.

[Rashad Bilal]

He created true social. So let me just say came president.

[Troy Millings]

Let me say this. I have a few things to say.

[Derek]

Come on, let's wake it up. Shoddy. Yep.

[Troy Millings]

Hey, you know a lot of people have for a long time said like presidents have no power. It's the shadow government that runs America. The presidents really have no power. Well this actually shows you that presidents actually do have power because thank you. All of these top. These are the top companies. These are the richest people in the world. Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook.

[Derek]

Elon Musk kicked it off.

[Troy Millings]

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, they all have kissed the Mark Zuckerberg look. Mark, if you're listening, love to have you at Invest Fest if you're interested. You know, have a conversation with no disrespect but Mark Zuckerberg goes anyway. The wind blows them first. Like when the Democrats is in.

[Derek]

Does he. He pushed back on Trump and and.

[Troy Millings]

We'Ll get to the Tim Cook when it was convenient. He pushed back on Trump when the Democrats was in office after Trump the Trump lost. He kicked him off of Instagram. When Trump won he, he literally gave him A million dollars. Had dinner at his house, apologized to him in person.

[Derek]

In person.

[Troy Millings]

Allegedly.

[Derek]

Trump wrote the real Trump 100.

[Troy Millings]

Like he know ends DEI. I mean, this is the reason why he's doing this is because this is what Trump and his consortiums want him to do. It's okay. You want to. You want to have. You want to operate for four years in peace and not have us bring to Capitol Hill every two weeks like you was four years ago, then this is. This what. This is what you need to do. And this, He's. He's having no problem.

[Rashad Bilal]

Go to Joe Rogan and do it.

[Troy Millings]

Doing it. So, yeah, he went to Joe Rogan.

[Derek]

Apologize publicly. The disrespect was public apologizing.

[Rashad Bilal]

Sit down for three hours. So talk about the other Joe.

[Troy Millings]

So, yeah, so that. Then the second part is. And I said this on the Breakfast Club work, this DEI thing, right? DEI is the politically correct way to say so what I mean by that is that you can't say racial slurs in 2025 and just get away with it. So you can. Yep. You can say woke. You can say di. So what they're saying is that because they saying, okay, we're gonna peel back this Di. Di must die. Di. Like, there is no DEI. There is no Di. There never was Di. 0.7% of Fortune 500 companies CEOs are black. And we know her talk about it personal. So less than 1%. Less than 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are black. Less than a half of 1% of venture capital fund goes to black businesses. Less than 1% of all money managers are black.

[Derek]

Same angel investing. Less than 1% of the capital goes to black startups. And those that are doing well, damn near have to hide.

[Troy Millings]

Right? Less than 7% of the people in the whole entire tech industry are black. Even though we make up 16 of the workforce. I can continue to go on, where's the di. Where. Where's the. Where's the inclusion? We're not included in anything.

[Derek]

And a capital promise was never dispersed.

[Rashad Bilal]

So that's what I said, right? Like, I was like, yeah, that sounds good. And the George Floyd tragedy and moment, the response from it from the corporate was, we'll throw money at this, right? We're going to create initiatives. 100 million from this company. 100 million. Well, who's watching the money? Because it never got to anywhere near the people. And actually it was supposed to be allocated for. And when it's not allocated to those people, what's the consequence? What are the Repercussions. What's the drawback?

[Derek]

Nothing. They didn't know how to open up the account. That's why I got to tune in Thursday to see how to open up the account, to disperse it to the DEI programs. Right.

[Rashad Bilal]

It wasn't even a writer for them. They never even let it. It never got dispersed and never.

[Troy Millings]

It's. It's a way to say the N word without saying it. Because pretty much what they're saying is that anybody that's black that has risen to any level of significance, they can discredit it in one sentence by saying their DI higher. They don't care if you went to law school. They don't care if you graduated first in your class. They could say your DI higher, which discredits you from actually obtaining any job of significance which relegates you to just meaning meaningless work. Right? And that's what they want. They want black people subjugated to low levels of positions in every part of society. A permanent lower class underclass caste system in the United States of America. This is not a political take if you voted for Trump. I don't care if you voted for Trump or not. But this is. This is a fact. What I'm saying is actual fact. Because like I said, why is the richest people in the world championing DEI must die when I just gave you the stats. They're not threatened. There is no di. They're not there. We black people are not included then. No. We're nowhere near threatening white men. So why is that? Why is that a running. Why is that one of the top slogans for the Republican Party? Why is every. Why is every Fortune 100 company dropping? You think that they're doing that just because they want to. They're doing that. They're pressured to do that.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. They're saying for like the one person that gets through, you took the place of somebody that looked like us. I told you 101 1. Nah, that could have gone. We should add 100.

[Derek]

Right?

[Rashad Bilal]

And even these budgets, the D. And we talk about this again, but the D. Think about that, right? You got a budget of 500 million. The DEI budget be like 5 million spread out through 50 companies or a hundred companies. And so now we're fighting to get $10,000 when the budget was 500 million. We're trying to get 10,000. Here you go. Here. Figure that out, guys. Yo, look, we. We donated, we sponsored. Here's our new charity case.

[Derek]

Anyone who says the presidents don't have power, never met anybody with power or you were uninformed. It's a classic example. I don't know any president. They would not raise billions of dollars to run if that position had no power. I think Trump just wields that sword a lot better than others. And he's a lot more up front and how he does business, but also too on. On the stock side, if you are not a part. I call this the anti VIX index. Like that donation to the camp and saying I'll get along is buying you upward returns for that company for the next four years.

[Rashad Bilal]

It's a good investment for sure.

[Troy Millings]

Right.

[Rashad Bilal]

If I donated a million. But my company is allowed to make what, a hundred billion in a quarter easily. This is not even. You don't even think about that. Write the check and you walk away. Right? You're talking about. I know Basil is not CEO anymore, but like $100 billion quarters. Apple's doing $100 billion quarters.

[Derek]

Yeah. We got to give Apple credit for not closing their DEI program yet.

[Troy Millings]

Yet.

[Derek]

Next year. Right?

[Troy Millings]

You never know. You never know.

[Rashad Bilal]

Clock's ticking.

[Troy Millings]

And. And that's the crazy thing. Like, you got people like. I mean, Tim Cook is. Is a. Is openly gay. Right? So would he be considered as far. Would he be a dei Higher.

[Derek]

Movement? Was there?

[Rashad Bilal]

No, but then by definition he would be.

[Troy Millings]

Is he. Is he Diversity, equity and inclusion by having somebody from the. From the LGBTQ community. As you only hear Di when it's a black person.

[Derek]

True.

[Troy Millings]

Right. You never hear. I don't hear in it when it's woman. Because technically women. That's a dei, right?

[Rashad Bilal]

Yep.

[Troy Millings]

Women, Diversity, equity and include. I don't hear white women being called that. I haven't heard it.

[Rashad Bilal]

Yeah. It's a practice and policies intended to support people who come from varying backgrounds and give them resources they need to thrive in workplaces.

[Troy Millings]

CEO of Microsoft. He's Indian. I haven't heard him. Him being called the DEI high.

[Derek]

No, and I told you last year. Well, when he canceled dei, I said, boy, that's real power, real pressure to make him stand down.

[Unknown]

Ever wanted to explore the world of online trading, but haven't dared try? The futures market is more active now than ever, and Plus500Futures is the perfect place to start. Plus500 gives you access to a wide range of instruments. S&P 500, NASDAQ, Bitcoin, gas, and much more. Explore equity indices, energy, metals, forex, crypto and beyond with a simple and intuitive platform. You can trade from anywhere.

[Troy Millings]

Right.

[Unknown]

From your phone deposit with a minimum of a hundred dollars and experience the fast accessible futures trading you've been waiting for. See a trading opportunity. You will be able to trade it in just two clicks once your account is open. Not sure if you're ready. Not a problem. Plus500 gives you an unlimited risk free demo account with charts and analytic tools for you to practice on. With over 20 years of experience, Plus500 is your gateway to the markets. Visit us.+500.com to learn more. Trading in futures involves the risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. Not all applicants will qualify. Plus 500 it's trading with a plus.

[Rashad Bilal]

At Verizon anyone can trade in their old phone for a new one on us with unlimited ultimate which means everyone in your family could get a new phone and stay on your family plan. Keeping you close. Hey mom, you seen my toothbrush? Yeah, I'm almost done with it. Oh maybe too close. Trade in an additional term supply. See verizon.com for details.