If early election night results are any barometer, it might be time for everyone to get more woke.
So far, polls across the country show a likely blue tsunami, with traditional Republican strongholds chipped away at — or even flipped — by Democrats. Jon Ossoff won reelection in Georgia handily; South Carolina’s Senate seat flipped to blue; and Democrat James Talarico is projected to be Texas’ next senator.
The internet has come to its own (somewhat joking) conclusion: DEI is so back. Delighted X users spent the evening joking that pronouns will return to email signatures, whether workers like it or not.
“YOU HAVE TWELVE HOURS TO PLACE THE PRONOUNS BACK IN YOUR EMAIL OR YOU WILL BE REPORTED,” one X post read. Another joked that should Democrats win 53 or more Senate seats, pronouns would have to return to email signatures. New York City Council member Chi Ossé wrote “PRONOUNS BACK IN BIOS NOW” in response to favorable projections for Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico. And yet another X post declared that there would be a new gender with every seat Democrats won.
Of course, these are flippant meme fodder, but they get at a potential vibe shift. In the wake of President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory, both the federal government and, in turn, companies across the economy cracked down on DEI initiatives.
Some firms did indeed tell workers to remove their pronouns from their email signatures; others publicly pulled back on DEI initiatives and goals, leaving some workers feeling disheartened and others affirmed. Overall, it was a rapid about-face from 2020-era rhetoric and initiatives that centered on racial equity and inclusion, and a pivot that many companies embraced in an effort to not attract the ire of Trump and the federal government.
Now, though, the political landscape has been thrown into another seismic shift with the apparent leftward turn in the midterms. For the firms that have stuck with their DEI initiatives, that might be welcome news, as voters embrace a new group of leaders. And, of course, DEI never fully went away: Many companies still quietly embraced diverse hiring practices, but shirked away from the term.
There’s also always the possibility that the likely Democratic gains lead to new innovation; as one X poster wrote, “We’re doing double pronouns now!”
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