Jim Crow 2.0: How Anti-DEI Laws Are Rooted In Systemic Anti-Black Racism with Darryl B. Rice

October 1, 2025

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“Many organizations are failing their Black employees. When Black employees say we are living in Jim Crow 2.0, this isn’t hyperbole, but an empirical reality. Although I’m very happy to see this article accepted for publication, this research project was very emotionally heavy and mentally taxing. The empirical reality is that these various anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) state laws are rooted in systemic anti-Black racism.”

–-Darryl B. Rice, Ph.D

In this educational segment of Social Justice Origin Stories, Dr. Darryl B. Rice, Associate Professor of Management and Richard T. Farmer Associate Professor at Miami University, shares the research findings he and co-authors Dr. Tsedale Melaku and Dr. Jennifer R. Bishop write about in their forthcoming article: Jim Crow 2.0: Understanding Present-Day Anti-DEI Laws as A Function of Cross Generation Transmission of Systemic Anti-Black Racism in the special issue of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: on “The Backlash Against DEI Programs.”

Dr. Rice connects Jim Crow era anti-Black violence and modern anti-DEI legislation, and how social conservatism as a political ideology, and the use of the southern strategy across Trump’s presidential campaigns, exploits racial resentment against Black people, fueling current attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

He talks about the inclusion tax: the disproportionate costs that are placed on Black people navigating predominantly white institutional and professional spaces, the impact of institutional capitulation to demands to roll back or end DEI policy, and how, by refusing to name and fight systemic anti-Black racism, organizations fail their Black employees.

He also shares considerations for leaders and Black staff on resisting, advocating for equity, and protecting their psychological safety.

Meet Darryl

Darryl B. Rice, Ph.D. or “Dr. Ice” to his colleagues and students, is the Richard T. Farmer Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Management at Miami University, and an Associate Editor at the Journal of Managerial Psychology. Dr. Rice earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Management at the University of Central Florida, his M.B.A with a concentration in Leadership from Jacksonville University, and his B.S. in Finance/Multinational Business Operations from Florida State University.

He is an award-winning scholar and teacher recognized internationally for his research in organizational justice, behavioral ethics, well-being/stress, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. His work has appeared in top journals such as Journal of Management Studies and Journal of Business Ethics.

His work also appears in the Oxford Handbook of Organizational Justice. His research has been presented and featured at conferences such as the Academy of Management, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and Southern Management Association. He primarily teaches Introduction to Management and Leadership and Diversity and Cross Cultural Management.

Connect with Dr. Rice on LinkedIn.