We’ve witnessed his chief lieutenant accusing his critics of “dirty tricks” in response to the justified outpouring of disgust at his salutes.

himself empowered federal agents to round up law-abiding families and individuals – many of whom had lived in the all their lives – for the ‘crime’ of being Latino.

And cowardly media outlets in this country trying to take ‘both sides’ on the conduct of both men instead of taking a stand. It’s no wonder Jill Pence, wife of Trump’s former vice-president Mike, refused to shake his hand at the funeral of another ex-President, Jimmy Carter.

READ MORE:

Or that , the wife of former president Barack Obama, was a no-show at Trump’s inauguration last week. She’d warned us on the campaign trail in support of Kamala Harris what kind of man he was. There was no way she was going to list the many ways in which he’d rip up a diverse and inclusive society – then indulge him in the name of pomp and ceremony?

Amid the carnage last week, Trump fulfilled his promise to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government in favour of ‘merit-based’ appointments.

For all those either worried (or excited) that it could happen over here too, there are two things to consider: First, DEI on both sides of the Atlantic has been dead for years. It’s the optics that have been alive and kicking. Companies have ticked boxes and talked the talk all over the place, reaching a crescendo after the George Floyd tragedy in 2020.

But that crisis of conscience lasted a couple of years at best before firms quietly ended diversity schemes, made the conditions for senior hires unworkable and refused to change their overall workplace culture. And there is zero point in a diverse workplace if the culture, in relation to racism or sexism, remains the same.

Secondly, when Trump talks about going back to the merit-based system, he talks about jobs for his mates – a system that has existed across decades. Look across any industry either here in the UK or in the US and you will see that around 85% of leadership roles are filled by one demographic – even though our society is more diverse than ever before.

Sport is one such example, with few Black or Asian decision-makers in football at the highest level – even though half the players come from that demographic. It is little wonder the game struggles with a racism crisis.

Online media trade publication Deadline described diverse representation in the UK TV industry’s most senior ranks as ‘poor’. There remain few Black or Asian senior men or women in the print industry. In business, it’s just as stark with only 1% of senior leadership in the financial and professional services Black.

Even more starkly, the proportion falls to just 0.5% for leadership in investment banks and 0. 4% of equity partners in non-law professional services firms. Go beyond middle management, and fewer than 1% of senior leadership in the financial and professional services are Black.

Thankfully, for decades the US has had a number of civil rights organisations created for the express purpose of leading the pushback. The leadership of billionaire individuals such as filmmaker Spike Lee, Oprah Winfrey and actor Tyler Perry – who owns his own studio –is an important antidote to the poison spread by the new US administration.

Here, the one crumb of comfort from Trump’s rampage is UK citizens of colour will not look at the snake oil being sold by our Right-wing politicians and be seduced into believing it will make their lives better.

No longer will Black, Asian or mixed heritage voters wrestle with the question: ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ if they are even thinking of voting Tory or Reform. All they need to do is smell the fumes drifting across the Atlantic.

READ MORE: