Issa Rae is applauding those who are upholding DEI efforts.

During SXSW 2025 in Austin, TX, the actress, producer, and newest part-owner of San Diego FC participated in a keynote conversation where she shared her thoughts on the evolving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) landscape, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

A racial awakening occurred in 2020 following the death of George Floyd due to police brutality. This led to an influx of support and a record-breaking $4.3 billion in venture capital and corporate investments towards Black-owned businesses, per CNBC News, as well as a 55% increase in DEI roles created, notes NBC News.

As time has gone on, many of these bold commitments around DEI have faded out. This has only worsened due to pressures from conservative groups challenging such efforts in litigation, with some success. Legal wins for the right have included the dismantling of Fearless Fund’s Strivers Grant program, which awarded Black woman-owned businesses, and the Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle race-conscious admission programs in colleges and universities as a result of Edward Blum’s lawsuit, notes NPR.

President Donald Trump has further fueled anti-DEI rhetoric by signing executive orders to close all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs at the federal level, which has prompted other industries to follow suit, including retail (Walmart and Target), technology (Meta and Amazon), and entertainment. According to Vanity Fair, in 2023 various DEI executives exited their roles or were forced to switch gears as a result of budget cuts. This included Karen Horne, who previously served as Warner Bros. Discovery North America’s senior vice president for DEI between 2020 and 2023.

“In 2020 there was a lot of pressure for organizations to hire these roles, but not a real understanding of what the jobs were,” explained Jeanell English, former executive vice president of impact and inclusion at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, per Vanity Fair. “You’re bringing me in to really challenge, question, rebuild, dismantle the systems that your organization has been built on. And that is fundamentally uncomfortable if you’re not ready to receive and respond to that level of critique.”

And by 2023, she added, “You have [DEI] people who are burnt out from pushing to implement things that they thought would be welcomed. You have the [community] frustrated, because they don’t see enough change. And then you have these organizations who—how do you justify a job that maybe you didn’t even really want? So you start to see roles being cut.”

The removal or rebranding of DEI efforts in the entertainment industry will impact what stories are being told. Over the years, concerns have grown about the decline of Black representation in storytelling, especially compared to the golden eras of the 1960s through the early 2000s, which brought “The Jeffersons,” “A Different World,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Girlfriends,” and “My Wife and Kids.”

“I think diversity needs a better publicist,” Rae said during SXSW 2025, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “The anti-DEI, the immediate retraction of any efforts to level the playing field and focus on our stories, I think it [comes from] a big misunderstanding and a fear.”

Rae also gives her praises to those making the decision to champion diverse stories in the wake of backlash.

“Some of these executives that are coming up are fighting to get new voices in despite resistance, despite their jobs being on the line,” she mentioned, according to the outlet. “I admire those who are still pushing for diverse stories despite mandates.”

Rae’s commitment to DEI led her to cancel a sold-out event at the Kennedy Center in February 2025 after President Trump was appointed as its chairman. The center had been established to uphold a “culture of inclusiveness,” but its mission is being reimagined under Trump, who also replaced board members. 

Rae viewed the removal of former board members as “an infringement of values,” BBC reports. At SXSW 2025, Rae does not directly address the incident, but states the importance of backing those actively driving change.

“Sometimes the onus is put on celebrities to put their voices out there,” Rae expressed to The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m just like, ‘Y’all shut the f-ck up and just support the people who are doing the work … and do that silently. That is the best way to make change, not to make yourself the center of it but to find somebody on the grassroots level and put your weight behind them.”