Date of Graduation
Summer 2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)
Department
Public Policy and Administration
Committee Chairperson
Kristen B. Crossney, PhD
Committee Member
Francis Atuahene, PhD
Committee Member
Angela Kline, PhD
Abstract
This research examines pressing moral policy questions of our time: who determines when the United States of America has fulfilled its broken promise of equality for all, and what constitutes an appropriate measure of reparative justice. It interrogates why the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Executive Orders (EOs) implemented across presidential administrations, intended to advance social equity, were grounded in conflict and symbolic gestures rather than scientifically evidenced issues such as wage inequality directly linked to upward career mobility. Race conscious policy generates cultural clashes centered on the perception that gains made by Black and Brown Americans come at the expense of White Americans. Historical evidence contradicts that belief, and this study shows DEI policies had minimal impact on the structural problems of equity and instead fueled highly publicized political discourse that obscured broader institutional and systemic interests in maintaining social dominance for the majority. Across the federal workforce, White employees earn substantially higher average incomes than Black and Brown employees, with even wider disparities at the agency level. DEI initiatives had negligible effects on racial pay equity and disproportionately harmed Brown employees. Politicized racial conflicts over equity ultimately disadvantage the intended minority group beneficiaries and reinforced the influence of majority group elitism to sustain a duopoly democracy. Over time, perceived competition for resources eroded shared constitutional values, producing fatigue expressed as colorblindness. Within an institutional context, social equity becomes irrelevant to all except those who continue to experience inequality.
Final Version Confirmation
1
Recommended Citation
Melville, Francois C., "Politics as Usual: Racial Pay Inequity and the Illusion of Inclusion in the Rise and Fall of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Executive Orders" (2026). West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects. 99.
https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/all_capstones/99
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