{"id":2589661,"date":"2026-04-11T13:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hakeem-jeffries-tells-activist-audience-dei-is-explicitly-written-into-constitution\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T13:45:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:45:53","slug":"hakeem-jeffries-tells-activist-audience-dei-is-explicitly-written-into-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hakeem-jeffries-tells-activist-audience-dei-is-explicitly-written-into-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Hakeem Jeffries Tells Activist Audience DEI Is Explicitly Written Into Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhakeem-jeffries-tells-activist-audience-dei-is-explicitly-written-into-constitution%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2589661&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>This article reports on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries\u2019 remarks at the National Action Network convention,where he criticizes the Trump administration\u2019s effort to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/harris-defends-dei-as-she-begins-economic-equity-tour-in-atlanta\/\" title=\"Harris advocates for ..., Equity, and ... in Atlanta tour\">roll back diversity<\/a>,equity and inclusion (DEI). It notes that President Donald Trump issued an executive order early in 2025 to end DEI efforts across the federal government, wich Jeffries argues is at odds with the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Jeffries frames DEI as American values and urges against what he calls an \u201call-out assault on civil rights,\u201d contrasting this with his view that diversity,equity and inclusion strengthen the nation. The piece also references recent Supreme Court decisions in 2023 that struck down <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/student-group-presses-supreme-court-to-fast-track-unc-affirmative-action-case\/\" title=\"Student Group Presses Supreme Court To Fast-Track UNC Affirmative Action Case\">race-conscious admissions policies<\/a> at UNC and Harvard, tying those rulings to ongoing debates about equality under the law. additional content in the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >article includes related remarks<\/a> from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and various embedded media and Disclaimers typical of the publication.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told left-wing activists Thursday that the Trump administration was carrying out an &ldquo;all-out assault on civil rights&rdquo; by opposing diversity, equity and inclusion.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity\/\">executive order<\/a> within hours of taking office on Jan. 20, 2025, mandating an end to DEI efforts in the federal government.<\/p>\n<p>Jeffries told attendees of the National Action Network annual convention that DEI was mandated by the 14th Amendment&rsquo;s Equal Protection Clause.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No matter what these extremists are trying to do with their all-out assault on civil rights, on voting rights, certainly on diversity, equity and inclusion &mdash; and we won&rsquo;t let these extremists get away with lying to the American people,&rdquo; the New York Democrat maintained.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They want to suggest that diversity, equity, and inclusion are foreign values. They&rsquo;re not foreign values, they&rsquo;re American values.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just check the record. The motto of this great country, &lsquo;E pluribus unum,&rsquo; that&rsquo;s the motto of this great country, &lsquo;Out of many, one.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s diversity,&rdquo; Jeffries continued.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One of the most important constitutional amendments in this country, a Reconstruction amendment, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, contains the Equal Protection Clause. And the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment promises equal protection under the law. That&rsquo;s equity.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced his department would scrap racial and gender quotas for promotions in a Sept. 30 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/News\/Transcripts\/Transcript\/Article\/4318689\/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-addresses-general-and-flag-officers-at-quantico-v\/\">speech<\/a> to assembled general and flag officers.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth also said that there would only be one combat fitness standard that all troops serving in combat roles would be required to meet.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And all across this country, from sea to shining sea, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, when people say the Pledge of Allegiance, they pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That&rsquo;s inclusion,&rdquo; Jeffries said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, diversity, equity, and inclusion &mdash; we&rsquo;re teaching the extremists something &mdash; these aren&rsquo;t foreign values, these are American values. And when you attack diversity, equity, and inclusion, you attack the United States of America.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have the high ground on this issue, which is why I&rsquo;m so thankful that Reverend Sharpton and the National Action Network continues to lean in,&rdquo; Jeffries added.<\/p>\n<p>Citing the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court struck down admission policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard that took race into account, with a 6-3 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/22pdf\/20-1199_hgdj.pdf\">ruling<\/a> in the case of North Carolina and a 6-2 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/22pdf\/20-1199_hgdj.pdf\">ruling<\/a> in the case of Harvard in June 2023.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A paraphrased summary of the provided content:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke to left\u2011wing activists, accusing the Trump administration of waging an \u201call\u2011out assault on civil rights\u201d by opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). He noted that President Trump had signed an executive order early in his term aimed at ending DEI efforts within the federal government. Jeffries argued that DEI is rooted in the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and insisted that DEI represents American values, not foreign ones. He warned that extremists won\u2019t be able to mislead the public about these issues.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Jeffries emphasized that promoting inclusion, diversity, and equity is consistent with the nation\u2019s purpose, invoking the motto E pluribus unum and the idea that the 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law. He also highlighted the importance of DEI as a constitutional matter and a part of American identity, saying the attack on DEI is an attack on the country itself. He thanked Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network for their ongoing support.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece also notes a move by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to eliminate racial and gender quotas for promotions and to implement a single standard for fitness in combat roles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Additionally, the article references Supreme Court decisions from June 2023 that struck down race-conscious admissions policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard, with 6-3 and 6-2 rulings, respectively, reinforcing the context around debates over equity and inclusion.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The article is attributed to the Daily Caller News Foundation and includes standard publishing and licensing notes typical of DCNF content<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2589662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_7571.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14436,8062,16574,51272,32854],"class_list":["post-2589661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-activism","tag-constitution","tag-dei","tag-diversity-2","tag-hakeem-jeffries"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_7571.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2589661"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2589665,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2589661\/revisions\/2589665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2589662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2589661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2589661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2589661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}