Today we received the first of what is likely to be a bevvy of disappointing but unsurprising emails. The salient part is this:

“Given recent developments in the broader political landscape, County leadership has determined that it is not feasible to move forward with this [DEI] initiative at this time.”

And while most jurisdictions are not typically brave enough to admit they’re not brave, this abandonment of the equity agenda has been quietly happening for several years now.

I am not without sympathy for those who are leaning into the social and political headwinds to maintain some momentum from the baby steps we’ve made toward a more equitable world. But this type of retreat says more about the “allies” than it does about the opponents.

We always knew this backlash was coming. When has meaningful change ever been quick and easy? But do we really only have the stamina for this work when it’s popular? When it poses no risks?

Instead of running away from the obvious setback this past election has dealt the DEI movement, those of us who can still see the harm that inequitable systems inflict—not just on individuals or groups but on society as a whole—have to find alternative ways to keep this work moving forward. It is precisely in these hard moments when we need allyship.

It is certainly untenable in many places to focus primarily on racial justice, atonement, and reparations given the current political climate. But as much as I might be aligned with those moral objectives, it was never a wise strategy to base DEI efforts on them in a country that hasn’t even fully acknowledged its history, let alone come to terms with it.

My call to the stalwarts is that they find a different way—a better way—to contextualize equity work and why it is still necessary, now perhaps more than ever. Use terms that the opponents of equity can understand, terms they even use to denigrate the effort. In a world that is getting browner every day, and in an interdependent world economy that has irrevocably moved on from closed production loops that stop at borders, lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion is just bad business.

It’s less efficient, less innovative, less competitive. It’s costlier and produces worse decisions. And it’s unsustainable given demographic trends. It’s fundamentally uncompetitive. Those organizations that have figured this out and taken measures to do something about it, are going to be the ones who thrive in the near future economy. And there is nothing political about that.