Charleston strips DEI language from programs amid executive orders that threaten $175M in grants By Ali Rockett 3 hrs ago CHARLESTON — City officials are facing a year-end deadline to strip city policies of language that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion, a move that could fundamentally change at least two city programs amid pressure from federal and state administrations.
If they don’t comply by Dec. 31, more than $175 million in federal grant funding could be at risk, according to Julia Copeland, the city’s attorney.
On Dec. 2, City Council gave initial approval to sweeping changes targeting two city initiatives. The Women and Minority Business Enterprise office is set to become Small Business Enterprise, and the Human Affairs and Racial Conciliation Commission will become the Human Affairs Commission.
One city councilman pushed back, saying that it is unclear why these specific programs were selected for changes over others that support women and accessibility, and said the ramifications could be much farther reaching.
“We're not going back,” said Councilman William Dudley Gregorie, one of only three Black members of the 13-person council who is set to leave office at the end of the year. “We're not sitting on the back of the bus anymore, and that's where this is headed.”
The ordinance broadly ensures that “any city programs, plans, ordinances, regulations, policies, initiatives, directives to commissions and committees, and practices related thereto, conform to federal and state law, including executive orders.”
Charleston’s changes came a day before Gov. Henry McMaster told state agencies to stop favoring minority-owned businesses when awarding government contracts, saying the 40-year-old practice is discriminatory.
McMaster’s order will not impact existing state contracts, Copeland said in an email, adding that the city’s efforts were “in line with the governor’s directive.”
The shift also follows executive orders issued earlier this year by President Donald Trump’s administration that eliminated support for entities like the state’s Minority Business Development Agency and struck guidelines that promoted diversity, equity and inclusion, commonly referred to by the acronym DEI, from federal contracts.
“What is a DEI program?” Gregorie asked. “We're flying blind.”
The city has asked for federal guidance “as to what that actually means and they provided no guidance,” Copeland told the council. “At this point, we're just trying to cover all our bases.”
Councilman Stephen Bowden, who co-chairs the Human Affairs and Racial Conciliation (HARC) Commission that is also subject to changes, said he didn't "love the language that's been proposed" but voted in favor of it anyway.
“I think everybody's done a great job trying to comply with a novel interpretation of anti-discrimination law in good faith,” he said. “I don't know how we could be expected to read the minds of the federal and state governments. I think the federal government or the state government will solve that for us soon I expect.”
They likely won’t have to wait long, at least at the state level. McMaster told reporters Dec. 3 that he has the full support of Statehouse leadership, who are poised to strip state law of any “discriminatory” language in the upcoming 2026 legislative session, which begins next month.
“Nobody wanted to come here tonight and radically change a business incubator program for people who have historically not had a leg up,” Bowden said.
Recently, the city opened a small business collective that rents affordable retail space it owns on King Street to minority and women-owned businesses. Last year, the city opened the Entrepreneurial Resource Center, a co-working and private office space for small businesses at 91 Hanover St.
Both initiatives, which its director has said were years in the making, are overseen by the soon-to-be renamed Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Office.
City spokeswoman Deja Knight McMillan said the changes will not affect the leases currently in place.
“Once adopted, the incubator will be open to any business that qualifies under the new Small Business Enterprise,” she said in an email.
The ordinance establishing the new “office of small business development” explicitly states that the “development program is intended to be a race- and gender-neutral program.”
Some changes have been under review for months Jerry Harris, co-chair of the HARC commission, said it is unusual for City Council to push through policy changes or create new ordinances without first going through the committee process.
“These issues, particularly in terms of the re-authorization of the HARC Commission, has been under discussion with the mayor and members of council for the last 12 months,” Harris said. “Unfortunately, this ordinance appeared on the agenda with no opportunity for our body to address it.”
The advisory commission was established in 2022 as the latest step in an effort by city leaders to confront racism in Charleston’s past and present. It followed a 2018 apology for the city's role in slavery and the 2015 massacre at Emanuel AME Church, where a white supremacist fatally shot nine Black worshippers.
The ordinance establishing the commission requires renewal every three years and has been under consideration for months.
In May, the commission opposed language proposed by Mayor William Cogswell’s administration that removed any mention of “racial conciliation” from its title and responsibilities.
“The change in this moment would be signaling to the world that” the city is “attempting to turn the clock back,” Harris said at the time.
In September, when the re-authorization of the commission first came before a City Council committee, Cogswell committed to “keeping this going” though he said nuances in the language still need to be sorted out.
“I do think that this committee or commission can serve an important role in our community today because there is a lot of frustration and anger and vitriol,” Cogswell said then. “Having this commission as a place for people to have dialogue, constructive dialogue, and for us as a city to be able to listen to people and hear what’s going on and what their frustrations are, I think can be constructive.”
McMillan, the city’s spokeswoman, said Cogswell stands by his commitment to continue the commission.
The new ordinance passed on Dec. 2 guts most of original commission’s purpose and duties. It’s purpose now reads: “to promote civility and civic engagement.”
Changes to the commission, and the business program, will be discussed at a specially-called committee meeting on Dec. 11 before they are finalized at the council’s last meeting of the year on Dec. 18.
“This is a significant amount of money, and we want to make sure that we are obeying federal laws,” Cogswell told council, “but not blowing up things that have been ongoing and productive for many, many, many years.”
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