A panel created by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers to oversee Walt Disney World revealed that it would halt diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the complex.
In a Tuesday statement by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), the group argued that the initiatives "discriminated against Americans based on gender and race, costing taxpayers millions of dollars."
The CFTOD took shots at the board members of the now-defunct Reedy Creek Improvement District, the governing authority over Disney World from 1968 until February, when it was officially abolished.
Disney had full power to appoint the RCID’s five board members, while the new Florida law reorganizing it as the CFTOD gives the governor the authority to select them.
"The so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives were advanced during the tenure of the previous board, and they were illegal and simply un-American," CFTOD Administrator Glenton Gilzean said. "Our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal."
Disney is currently suing Florida for limiting its power over the special district, alleging that he has been targeting them over political opinions, court filings show.
One of the opinions Disney has accused DeSantis of targeting the company over is the presence of DEI policies that encourage the hiring of minorities, specifically to the exclusion of white men.
DeSantis and his cabinet have taken aggressive stances against the practice elsewhere, including barring it at Florida state universities. Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, he has also condemned the initiatives.
"We will restore merit and the individual as the central criteria for economic advancement," DeSantis emphasized on the campaign trail while praising the end to affirmative action in universities.
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