As RBR+TVBR first reported on Tuesday, just hours after being sworn in as the 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump signed an executive order that ceases “Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” In response, newly appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ended the Commission’s DEI promotion.
Democratic Commissioner Anna M. Gómez had something to say about that.
“What a shame,” Gómez shared in a statement “regarding the focus on culture wars and ending the Commission’s diversity equity and inclusion initiatives. “The Federal Communications Commission was created for the purpose of ‘regulating interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service. . .’ Most recently, in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress directed the Commission to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination. Turning off the light on initiatives aimed at helping us find what causes inequality kneecaps our ability to implement these congressional directives.”
Gómez added that it is the FCC’s “foundational mission to serve all – without discrimination.” Regarding “DEI,” she was determined to make her viewpoint known without obfuscation. “Let’s be clear, diversity, equity, and inclusion does not equal discrimination,” she believes. “It is precisely our efforts to be equitable and inclusive that strengthen our ability to fulfill our mission.”
Gómez pointed to how the Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC) and its multiple predecessors, first chartered under former Chairman Michael Powell in 2003, “have offered valuable recommendations to the FCC.”
She added, “I am deeply familiar with the important work this advisory group does for our agency. Former Chairman Ajit Pai created its immediate predecessor in 2017, the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment, and appointed me as Vice Chair and subsequently Chair. It is a shame that the current administration does not see value in the recommendations from telecommunications industry leaders, consumer experts, and local government officials.”
Thus, Gómez believes it is important that the FCC “is not distracted by culture wars and is focused instead on the important work we have to do to ensure everyone, everywhere is connected, including communities historically left behind. It bears repeating, our foundational mission is to serve all. I will continue to live this mission and advance it as a commissioner.”
