Raleigh leaders deny DEI allegations launched by conservative activists

Raleigh isn’t violating new federal rules seeking to block pro-diversity efforts, Raleigh City Manager Marchell Adams-David told state lawmakers Wednesday.

She and Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell were summoned to testify by the Republican-led state legislature about allegations that the city was still engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Last year, Republican President Donald Trump signed executive orders that could endanger Raleigh’s ability to get federal funding if it promotes DEI initiatives.

Adams-David said Raleigh doesn’t engage in the type of practices that critics claim.

“The City of Raleigh doesn’t have quotas,” she told the lawmakers holding the hearing. “Never has. We don’t have preferential treatment or any of that in our mode of operations. And that even predates me, and how we operate as your capital city.”

The accusations against Raleigh first came about in an undercover video shot by a conservative activist posing as someone applying for a job with the city and asking questions about its support for diversity.

Cowell, a Democrat elected in 2024, noted Wednesday that the video didn’t seem to worry any Raleigh residents — or at least not enough for anyone to contact her and ask any questions about it. Although the video has been public for months, she said, she only recently learned about its existence when GOP lawmakers recently told her to come testify.

“We became aware of it when y'all requested us to appear,” Cowell said. “I remember the day I got this email, and we're like, ‘I wonder what this is about.’”

Cowell then played the video for the committee and let Adams-David take over the hearing from there.

Adams-David said the video is misleading because it was filmed in early 2025, less than a month after Trump took office, while Raleigh was still working to determine which policies it needed to change or eliminate to comply with his brand-new executive orders. The city made a series of changes in January, February and March to comply with Trump’s orders, Adams-David told lawmakers. But the activists didn’t release their video until October. She said that timing gave the false impression that the city hadn’t already made the changes it did.

She also said the video at one point includes text on screen, which could be misleadingly interpreted as a quote of what a Raleigh city employee said, but which in reality was written by the activists who shot the video.

The president of Accuracy In Media, the conservative group behind the video, told WRAL on Wednesday that they gave Raleigh officials the chance to respond but received no comment. He also acknowledged that the text in question wasn't a quote by the employee shown on screen but questioned whether people believed what Adams-David insinuated about it.

"These people are offering excuses and distractions, but Raleigh taxpayers deserve an apology and an explanation," AIM President Adam Guillette said.

Although the legislature demanded the hearing, it didn't appear many lawmakers were keen to go after Raleigh over the accusations. Only one of the 17 lawmakers on the committee, Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) asked any questions about what they’d just heard.

Kidwell said the fact that Raleigh felt the need to get rid of policies based on Trump’s orders meant that the city had, in fact, been discriminating against white people previously. “If I'm understanding this correctly, your position is the city of Raleigh did discriminate,” Kidwell told Adams-David. “In fact, prior to January 2025, based on whatever criteria was set up. Is that accurate?”

Adams-David said that was not accurate, and that for example, none of the grants it decided to halt were ever set aside for minorities only.

“The City of Raleigh did not discriminate,” she said. “Now we could have the other side that would come in here and say — from a minority population — that they did not have access and they felt like they were discriminated against. But no, we did not discriminate against anyone.”

UNC System DEI videos

Lawmakers also summoned a top UNC System official on Wednesday to explain what its leaders are doing about similar undercover videos from a year or two ago, also filmed by conservative activists, that purported to show university leaders expressing support for diversity policies despite new anti-DEI policies passed by the university system’s political leadership.

State lawmakers have tried cracking down on DEI even further in universities, schools and state and local government. A trio of bills passed the legislature in 2025 in party-line votes but were successfully vetoed by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, including one that originally would've banned public universities and community colleges from investigating any complaints of racism, sexism, homophobia or similar accusations made by students or employees. After criticism, Republicans watered down that provision to instead halt bias investigations if the alleged offenders say they were engaging in satire.

On Wednesday, a GOP insider who now serves in a high-ranking UNC System post testified to lawmakers, seeking to ensure them that the UNC System is cracking down on DEI as desired.

Bart Goodson was chief of staff to former House Speaker Tim Moore before being hired as the senior vice president of government relations for the state’s universities. Goodson referenced undercover videos that purported to show a handful of university employees, from five of the 17 campuses statewide, saying they’d try to skirt new anti-DEI rules. Many of those filmed have since been fired or otherwise disciplined.

“As soon as we've gained knowledge of these instances, our campuses have immediately investigated and responded swiftly, and appropriately, and without hesitation,” Goodson said.

He also sought to reassure Republican lawmakers that UNC-Chapel Hill specifically, despite its liberal reputation, is a university that conservatives should be proud of. Goodson said a conservative think tank’s magazine, called City Journal, has been ranking American universities on its own preferred metrics, including their teachings on western civilization and efforts to oppose “ideological orthodoxy” on campus.

“You might be surprised to learn that UNC-Chapel Hill ranked third nationally,” in those conservative rankings, Goodson said. “I’ll say that again, third nationally. Something to be proud of.”

Kidwell again spoke up after Goodson’s presentation, expressing concern that even though Republicans took over control of the UNC System Board of Governors years ago, they didn’t start taking anti-DEI stances until 2023. He implied people could die because of that, or perhaps already have.

“I know we've all seen this on the internet,” Kidwell said. “Someone talks about, ‘I'm getting on an airplane. Do I have the best pilot? Or was it somebody hired because they filled some quota?’ Because I want the best pilot, people. I want the best doctor. I want the best people in every position we can have in this state.”