• A conservative group has filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Evanston arguing that the north suburb’s reparations program meant to repay historical wrongs against Black residents violates the U.S. Constitution.
• The residents say in the lawsuit that Evanston’s first-in-the-nation reparations plan violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment because the program uses race as a requirement for eligibility.

• Gravity Research, a corporate reputation insights firm, analyzed nearly 1,000 documents from Fortune 100 companies—issue reports, SEC filings, earnings calls—to see if and how their language changed from 2023 to 2024.
• The use of charged terms like “DEI,” “diversity,” and “inclusion” in Fortune 100 issue reports decreased by 22%, while the use of more neutral language like “belonging,” “diverse experiences,” or “diverse perspectives” increased by 59%. This significant shift in language usage was observed across various sectors.
• Report mentions of “diversity officer” fell by 49% year-over-year, while references to diversity-focused programs or terms like “representation goal” fell by an average of 52%.
• The term “underrepresented” saw the biggest usage drop from 2023 levels. Instead, companies are opting for generalized language like “our people” and “talent and culture.”
• while neutralizing external messaging could provide a short-term protective effect, it’s unlikely to deter the conservative anti-corporate DEI movement and could spark progressive backlash while drawing negative attention from employees, activists, and lawmakers.

3 more annotations...