A city in North Carolina damaged by Hurricane Helene has discovered the hard way that the Trump administration is serious about ending all programs involving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Asheville, N.C., one of those hit hardest by Helene last year, received $225 million in Community Development Block Grant funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to aid in its recovery, according to a HUD news release. However, Asheville’s initial draft for spending the funds drew criticism from HUD Secretary Scott Turner on Tuesday.
“HUD looks forward to helping thousands of North Carolinians rebuild after Hurricane Helene by directing funding assistance to impacted businesses, non-profit organizations and neighborhoods,” Turner said.
“However, Asheville’s draft action plan incorporated DEI criteria to prioritize some impacted residents over others, which was unacceptable. After HUD informed Asheville that its plan was unsatisfactory and it would not be approved, the city assured us that it was updating its draft action plan to be compliant,” Turner explained.
According to the draft plan, “Within the Small Business Support Program, the City will prioritize assistance for Minority and Women Owned Businesses (MWBE) within the scoring criteria outlined within the policies and procedures.”
But Turner countered: “Once again, let me be clear DEI is dead at HUD. We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders.”
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer told local WLOS that the city has already made the required adjustments to allegedly rid its recovery plan of the DEI priority.
“We have modified the action plan to reflect his concerns, and we’ve been told the changes that we’ve made were acceptable,” Manheimer told the outlet.
“[Asheville], like many cities, has a program around contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses,” Manheimer said. “Apparently, the reference to that existing program is not something that they want to see in the action plan.”
She also said that HUD, under Turner, remains committed to providing Asheville with storm recovery assistance.
“We’re being reassured,” Manheimer said. “They’re very eager and continue to be eager, this administration, to help support the recovery of WNC, including Asheville, and we’re very appreciative of that.”
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Turner further discussed his agency’s transition away from DEI, as well as the Trump administration’s transition as a whole.
“So 77 million people … voted for this type of change, voted for this type of transition,” he said.
“And oftentimes, you know, transition is hard. Being uncomfortable is hard. But when you’re uncomfortable, like the president stated, we’re going through this time of transition that brings growth,” he said.
“And we are laser-focused not only at HUD, but I know the president is, for the posterity of this nation,” he added.
Turner also noted that HUD had discovered some $4 million in DEI placed within contracts his department had previously awarded.
“DEI at HUD is dead. We will serve every American no matter their color, their race, their tongue, their creed because that’s what we’re called to do,” he said.
President Trump visited storm-ravaged areas of North Carolina shortly after being sworn into office in January, where he was critical of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s lack of action months after Helene in providing financial and material relief to victims.
“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA, or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters during his visit. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”
Trump also pledged that his administration would provide assistance to North Carolina to help repair the damage swiftly, assuring the state that he would “do a good job” in the recovery efforts.
Not long afterward, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that FEMA, which falls under DHS, had resolved 80 percent of Western North Carolina cases.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
