Diversity
The United States has a Diverse population. We are black, brown, red, yellow, and white. We are Atheists, Pagans, Spiritualists, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians. We speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Persian, Hindi, Bengali, Pashto, Hebrew, Yiddish, Italian, and English. We live in tents, trailers, apartments, cabins, houses, and mansions. We are fat, skinny, tall, short, old, young, rich, and poor. We are men that love women, men that love men, women who love men, women who love women, men who used to be women, women that used to be men, and some who don't fit into any categories at all. You could say that there are no two of us alike. No proclamation from a dictator is going to change the fact that we have a diverse population. No laws passed by a congress that no longer represents the people can change the facts.
Equality
The United States was founded on the principle of equality. Take that away and the nation ceases to exist. Our constitution guarantees equality before the law, and various amendments and laws extend that to the workplace, educational institutions, and public services. But equality is an empty shell without equal opportunity. A capitalist system is not designed to provide equal opportunity. The haves will always fare better than the have-nots. If the United States is to fulfill its vision of equality, it is up to the government to provide the incentives for equal opportunity.
Inclusion
This one gets to the heart of the matter. The dictator, the oligarchs, and the MAGAts, want the US to be a good ole boys club. We're in and you're out. Good luck. Go form your own club. Basically the middle finger to anyone who they don't like.
DEI
So DEI is as fundamental to the United States as free speech and freedom of religion. In principle, it should create a workplace or university that is much more fair to everyone. But like every other human endeavor, our implementation of the principle is not always perfect. If you have a good idea, but poor implementation, you don't throw away the idea, you work to improve the implementation.
Let's take Jesus for an example. Jesus said "I have a great idea. If we all just love each other, we can create a better world". The disciples said "Great idea Jesus! We'll form a new religion and force everyone to love one another". Right away, Jesus got the feeling that maybe things weren't going to go well. A thousand years later Christian armies are slaughtering whole populations in the name of Jesus. Was Jesus wrong? Of course not. Christianity just turned out to be a very bad implementation of his teachings.
DEI is not going away. Sure, there will be some employers who right away only hire white people. They've always been there. But there will be a lot more who will just do the right thing, because it is the right thing, and because they believe in the principals this country was founded on. Call it DEI 2.0. New and improved. Americans are not going to be intimidated by the dictator's threats. He can send in the gestapo, it won't matter. We've seen that movie, we know what to do.