Arlington votes to erase DEI language, protecting $65 million in federal funds
The Arlington City Council followed in the footsteps of Fort Worth on Tuesday night and began the process of scrubbing diversity, equity and inclusion from the municipal code. If the body opted out of doing so, $65 million in annual federal funds would be quashed.
In two nearly-unanimous decisions, the council chose to temporarily suspend the anti-discrimination chapter and rewrite the Unity Council’s guidelines to comply with federal grant contracts.
When municipalities receive grants from the U.S. government, it enters into a contract with various stipulations on the allocation of those funds. Federal grant contracts are now being updated to prohibit “advancing or promoting DEI as well as any type of race use gender as part of the decision making process,” City Manager Trey Yelverton explained.
Arlington already lost a $50,000 grant for parks and recreation due to the prohibited word “inclusion,” according to Mayor Jim Ross. He said tabling Tuesday’s actions would have put even more money at risk.
“It’s not just about jeopardizing the financial well-being of the city, though that does play a very significant role, but it’s about us following the law,” Ross told the meeting attendees Tuesday night. “If we expect those in our county, those in our state, those in DC, to follow the law, by God, we should follow the law.”
The mayor was one of seven council members who voted to modify the Unity Council and one of six in favor of temporarily suspending the anti-discrimination chapter in city code. Council member Barbara Odom-Wesley opposed both actions, and xouncil member Nikkie Hunter voted against the suspension. Council member Rebecca Boxall was not present for the votes.
The Unity Council
The Unity Council was established by the City Council on June 23, 2020. The task was to study equity strategies that the city of Arlington could pursue to promote and encourage greater equality; to gather community input on the need to build greater equality; and to report findings and recommendations to the City Council.
Former chair of the Unity Council Jason E. Shelton said since its founding, the group did so to an award-winning level.
Thirty members strong, the Unity Council would be given topics to discuss and then discuss solutions to the City Council.
A few years ago, the group was given the charge to address LGBTQ+ concerns in Arlington, Shelton said.
“There was not an appetite in our committee to go for gender-neutral bathrooms. That’s what was the big thing at the time a few years ago,” Shelton said. “But what we did have an appetite for was everybody wants to feel good and have privacy in the bathroom.”
So, the group recommended that the city council require all new construction to have at least one single-user bathroom, effectively giving everyone a place to comfortably go. The suggestion was approved and put into place.
In 2021, the Ciy Council took on over 50 suggestions made by the unity council.
Though he understands the city needs the federal funding, Shelton fears the Unity Council changes will lead to a loss in forward-thinking.
“We have been able to build community because we have been so diverse in multiple ways,” Shelton said. “I would say, politically, socially, religiously, we bring all that diversity to the table to find solutions to problems. And my fear is that we’re going to lose that now. So I think that’s what made the Unity Council unique. That’s why we got all those darn awards, because we were willing to utilize our diversity to push us all forward and channel it, focus it.”
The action on Tuesday was the first of two required votes and did not specify what the new language would be for the Unity Council.
The Anti-Discrimination ordinance
Before the City Council voted to temporarily suspend the anti-discrimination law, nearly a dozen residents spoke in front of the dais disapproving the action. One said he was in favor, saying the city doesn’t need DEI language to encourage diversity and inclusion because those things already happen naturally in Arlington.
The council voted to suspend the ordinance until revisions are made to it that comply with federal directives. The changes will be brought in front of the council “in coming months” a city staffer said.
Some dissenting the suspension called the stipulations around federal funds “blackmail” and “extortion.” Many implored the council to use civil disobedience to fight back.
DeeJay Johannessen, who encouraged the ordinance being put into place in 2021, said the city doesn’t have to temporarily suspend the measure at all.
“I encourage you to do exactly what you did with the very last ordinance for the Unity Council, which was to proactively solve it and then make the change.”
Johannessen said taking the temporary suspension route sends a message to residents that the city doesn’t care if they are discriminated against for the time being.
Council member Odom-Wesley said by suspending the chapter, the council is saying “now it’s OK to be discriminatory.”
After making a nod to the Declaration of Independence’s statement that all men are created equal, Odom-Wesley said the anti-discrimination policy is necessary because the people need protection.
“I certainly don’t want to see our city lose $65 million, and I don’t like being held hostage, having our grant dollars depend on our compliance with something that you don’t believe in.” Odom-Welsey said. “The progress that we made has been hard fought, worked on removing systemic barriers. That doesn’t always change hearts. It has changed policies. It has changed procedures and processes, and along the way, we’ve changed some hearts, but some hearts will not be changed.”
A few residents whispered the words to the Black National Anthem while Odom-Wesley spoke them, and a few others shed tears when the suspension was voted into place.
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 11:40 PM.