With the re-election of Donald Trump to the presidency, we can expect the backlash against racial equity earnings from the 2020 riots to grow exponentially. In the case of nonprofit work for racial equity, political and economic conditions that affirm white supremacy prevent capital investment in capital and further entrench systemic racism. The data shows that philanthropic pledges for racial equity grew to $16.5 billion in 2020, more than double from 2019 and 2018. In addition to declining philanthropic support for racial equitythe giants of the tech industry have destroyed DEI over the past two years.

Over the past year, we have felt the impact of a network of strategically orchestrated attacks on racial justice work across the country. This backlash reverberates through the results of this election and will continue to build momentum, proliferating attacks on our society’s most marginalized communities. Make no mistake: white supremacy and fascism is on the rise and it is urgent to recognize the technology industry as a critical terrain in our fight for the future. Working for racial equity in tech is needed now more than ever.

to Code 2040, the nonprofit I lead, we approach our racial equity work as racial justice, movement-oriented work. 2040 is the year black and latino people will happen became the majority in the USAand because technology profoundly influences all aspects of our lives, racial equity in technology is not just about access to jobs, but about access to power. We work to change not only who works in technology, but also how people work in technology and how technology works. We envision a world shaped by collective human needs that values ​​life over profits. We aim to shape a technology industry that strives to create life-affirming technology where the good of our collective humanity is centered on profit motives.

This might be a good place to throw out a specific example or two of how Code2040 has already had an impact. Since our founding in 2012, Code2040 has fostered one of the most extensive networks of Black and Latinx technologists in the industry. We have served as a gateway for hundreds of computer science students in technology and supported over 250 technology companies in redesigning workplaces to center racial equity. In the last year, our Fellows Program expanded into ten months of training to promote racial equity, skills development, industry networking and community building.

Right now, the tech industry is leading us into a future defined by ecological devastation, racial violence and accumulation by dispossession. As the rapid development of AI devours ecological resources, AI-fueled genocide continues in Palestine. We live in a time of military technological expansionand we must refuse war as the driving force of the innovation economy. No safety checks, AI will continue to threaten our communities and decimates our ecologies. Over the past year, we’ve seen tech workers organize and rise up against the use of labor to fuel genocide, while a growing number of AI experts call for safety protocols to protect against the dangers of untethered AI development. AI. In response, Big Tech laid off workers and poured more than a billion dollars in this election cycle to keep unregulated technology and innovation moving recklessly into destructive futures.

In this presidential election cycle, we have seen technology used to undermine democracy and was a witness venture capital and the influence of Big Tech on the electorate. If we are going to combat white supremacy and racism in this country, we must promote racial equity in technology.

The tech industry allows white supremacist ideology to proliferate and is run by corporate executives with vested interests in the field the rise of authoritarianism within technology. Before joining Trump on the campaign trail, outspoken eugenicist and tech billionaire Elon Musk already had restored white supremacist X accounts and used the lever platform to spread deep AI misinformation and fakes. In addition to reintroduction The account of white supremacist Nick Fuentes in May 2024who on November 5, posted, “Your body, my choice. Forever,” at X, X’s chatbot, Grok, also works to amplify MAGA’s messages. With few safety guidelines, Grok proliferated the artificial intelligence generated deep fakes and was also used to spread misinformation about voter registration deadlines until election officials filed a letter of complaint.

In the days leading up to the elections, Musk offered cash “prizes” to swing state voters. This clearly undermines democracy and appears to be bribery: dollars exchanged for votes. Musk’s lawyers moved the lawsuit from local to federal court.

Technology is shaping democratic discourse, and in this moment of political turmoil, we need to guard against it exploiting digital means to increase authoritarianism.

Consider a leading venture capital firm, Andreessen and Horowitzor a16z. A16z provides a case study par excellence in using diversity, reduced to an employee project, to promote undemocratic gains. While a16z is running Cultural leadership fund, a fund for black startups, Andreessen and Horowitz each donated $2.5 million at a Trump Super PAC, shortly after Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee for president.

With elections too close to call in early October, Ben Horowitz has pledged significant donations to support Kamala Harris’ campaigndismissing reporters for covering this notable financial move. Horowitz’s flip-flopping, along with many tech executives are calling Trump in the days leading up to the election, it demonstrates the tech industry’s desire for profit above all else. That Horowitz is a former board member Code 2040 it shows how diversity can be deployed in the service of expanding capital and safeguarding the status quo.

The ideological underpinnings of a16z appear in that of Marc Andreessen The Techno-Optimist Manifesto, which heralds fascism. The manifesto invokes that of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti The Futurist Manifesto, an accelerationist text glorifying war and speed that served as a precursor to Marinetti and Alceste de Ambris’ 1919 Fascist Manifesto. Indeed, the Techno-Optimist Manifesto directly quotes the Futurist Manifesto and lists Marinetti as one of the “Patron Saints of Techno-Optimism”.

As we face technologically fueled genocide and escalating global warfare, we cannot overlook the material impact of the venture capitalists and tech executives driving the innovation economy.

We need racial justice advocates in the tech industry who can promote racial equity as an internal strategy for dismantling systemic racism and creating radical change in the innovation economy. Advocating for racial equity includes highly publicized activities such as Google employees who participated, were arrested, and were eventually terminated for their insistence that Google be held accountable for using their technology in support of the Palestinian genocide. However, less publicized interventions can also have a long-lasting impact, such as a Code2040 alum who noted that black women in the workplace are less likely to receive coaching and feedback from to their managers and helped design and implement new standards for employee development that her company still uses today.

As we face the existential risks of untethered AI growth, technologically fueled genocidal warand the degradation of our planet, along with a right-wing empowered by Congress and another Trump presidency, it is no exaggeration to say that our future literally depends on technologies dedicated to racial equity.

Over the past 10 years, Code2040 has built a Black and Latinx tech community and led the fight for racial equity in tech. Each year, we run a Fellows program that provides training to advance racial equity, along with job skills, internship connections, and a robust community of Black and Latino technologists.

This year, we are hosting more than 100 scholars from all over the country. They will join over 1,000 Code2040 alumni and community members who are shaping the future of technology. We build power with technology and Black and Latino industry changemakers because we know technology needs a redistribution of power.

As we confront the dangers posed by Donald Trump’s return to the presidency and the rise of fascism, we must deepen our commitments to racial justice in all aspects of our lives and work. As an organization dedicated to advancing racial equity in the innovation economy, we affirm our commitments to racial and economic justice. We will continue to support tech workers everywhere who are galvanized by the promise of creating technology for the collective and social good.

Code2040 is committed to harnessing the power of our community to be part of the movement to democratize information, ensure full access to technology for all, and build technology solutions that fuel social justice movements around the globe. As we confront white supremacy and deeply entrenched systemic racism across the country, our work for racial equity in tech is needed now more than ever.

The next four years promise little regulation, accountability or consequences for how tech companies use their power or the impact their choices have on our local and global communities. We must seize this moment to regroup, reassess and re-strategize, but we cannot build power and movements to make substantial social change if we are isolated from each other. In the midst of unrelenting loss and prolonged grief, we must return to the basics—human connection, preparation, and action.

Meet your neighbors, connect with your colleagues and organize together. Join us Code2040’s mailing list to sign up to mentor a 2025 fellow, donate to support racial equity work in techstart a reading group Palestinian resistance to occupation, connect with organizing efforts against police violence, including local police cities and pressure to support companies to divest. There are so many worthy actions to take, so many ways to make an impact. The only necessity is action.

Code2040 addresses the racial inequities and imbalanced distribution of power that people of color and Latinos face in technology. They are committed to building a reality where people of color and Latinos in tech can lead and thrive in an ever-growing economy shaped by the digital revolution.