U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley is determined to continue advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in healthcare, financial services and higher education, despite ongoing attacks from the Trump administration .
“Think about the ways in which [DEI setbacks] will gut progress made in diversity in clinical trials,” she said on Thursday on Boston Public Radio.
Clinical trials are an essential step in reviewing the effectiveness and safety of new medical treatments or procedures. Despite efforts to improve participation, women and various racial and ethnic groups remain underrepresented in clinical trials . If existing evidence is predominantly based on white patients or another specific group, it may not fully capture how drugs and devices behave, or the potential side effects they may have in different populations.
“People underestimate the ways in which they benefit from government infrastructure and federal policies until someone like Donald Trump puts a wrecking ball to it,” Pressley said.
In addition to the impact on healthcare, the senator said she’s also concerned about the rollback of DEI efforts in financial services and banking.
Pressley emphasized that DEI initiatives benefit a broad range of people.
“It is not only Black folks who benefit from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” Pressley asserted. “DEI supports rural communities having an equitable opportunity in employment and benefiting from government investment. Diversity, equity and inclusion is about veterans. It’s about rural communities. It’s about women. It’s about the LGBTQ community. And it’s about African-Americans.”
Pressley has also been combatting the book bans that target Black authors and Black history . “I also have been working actively to step up the challenges and the bans of books, which is an assault on intellectual freedom and targeting Black authors and Black representation, and an erasure of Black history.”
She pointed to how the United States Air Force recently reversed its decision to remove training courses for new Air Force recruits about the Tuskegee Airmen. It was a move that was part of a broader effort to reduce DEI initiatives within the military, sparking backlash from veterans’ organizations, lawmakers and the public, leading to the course’s reinstatement.
“People feel overwhelmed, but I don’t want you to feel helpless because we still have the power of the people,” she said. “We’ve already proven that if we resist and if we apply pressure, that we can force them to reverse course.”
