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How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America
The renowned legal experts behind Say the Right Thing return with this clarion call for reimagining the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in a divided nation.
Equality in America is under siege. Corporations and universities are abandoning the DEI programs they previously championed. The tools Americans had for advancing fairness are facing a relentless political and legal assault. So how do we build a more just nation when the old playbook is no longer viable?
In this groundbreaking manifesto, Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow, founders of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law, candidly unpack where DEI went wrong and offer a roadmap to rebuild equality for the new era.
Drawing on their peerless legal expertise and extensive experience advising leaders in corporate America, academia, and the non-profit sector, Yoshino and Glasgow share tangible strategies to put this nation back on a more inclusive path, such as by fostering free speech and dissent, reclaiming the concept of merit, and welcoming groups that felt neglected by DEI. In doing so, they provide an urgently needed blueprint to ensure the work of equality can overcome the backlash and emerge stronger on the other side.
In an era when equality is imperiled, How Equality Wins provides a bracing critique and hopeful call to action for anyone committed to creating a fairer society.
Equality in America is under siege. Corporations and universities are abandoning the DEI programs they previously championed. The tools Americans had for advancing fairness are facing a relentless political and legal assault. So how do we build a more just nation when the old playbook is no longer viable?
In this groundbreaking manifesto, Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow, founders of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law, candidly unpack where DEI went wrong and offer a roadmap to rebuild equality for the new era.
Drawing on their peerless legal expertise and extensive experience advising leaders in corporate America, academia, and the non-profit sector, Yoshino and Glasgow share tangible strategies to put this nation back on a more inclusive path, such as by fostering free speech and dissent, reclaiming the concept of merit, and welcoming groups that felt neglected by DEI. In doing so, they provide an urgently needed blueprint to ensure the work of equality can overcome the backlash and emerge stronger on the other side.
In an era when equality is imperiled, How Equality Wins provides a bracing critique and hopeful call to action for anyone committed to creating a fairer society.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
208 pages, Hardcover
Published February 17, 2026
17 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Kenji Yoshino
13 books83 followersKenji Yoshino is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law. He was educated at Harvard (B.A. 1991), Oxford (M.Sc. 1993 as a Rhodes Scholar), and Yale Law School (J.D. 1996). He taught at Yale Law School from 1998 to 2008, where he served as Deputy Dean (2005-6) and became the inaugural Guido Calabresi Professor in 2006. His fields are constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, and law and literature. He has received several distinctions for his teaching, most recently the Podell Distinguished Teaching Award in 2014.
Yoshino is the author of three books—Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial (2015); A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice (2011); and Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights (2006). Yoshino has published in major academic journals, including The Harvard Law Review, The Stanford Law Review, and The Yale Law Journal. He has also written for more popular forums, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Yoshino makes regular appearances on radio and television programs, such as NPR, CNN, PBS and MSNBC. In 2015, he became a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine’s podcast and column “The Ethicists.”
In 2011, he was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers for a six-year term. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Talent Innovation, the Board of the Brennan Center for Justice, the External Advisory Panel for Diversity and Inclusion for the World Bank Group, the Global Advisory Board for Out Leadership, and the Inclusion External Advisory Council for Deloitte.
He lives in New York City with his husband and two children.
Yoshino is the author of three books—Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial (2015); A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare’s Plays Teach Us About Justice (2011); and Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights (2006). Yoshino has published in major academic journals, including The Harvard Law Review, The Stanford Law Review, and The Yale Law Journal. He has also written for more popular forums, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Yoshino makes regular appearances on radio and television programs, such as NPR, CNN, PBS and MSNBC. In 2015, he became a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine’s podcast and column “The Ethicists.”
In 2011, he was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers for a six-year term. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Talent Innovation, the Board of the Brennan Center for Justice, the External Advisory Panel for Diversity and Inclusion for the World Bank Group, the Global Advisory Board for Out Leadership, and the Inclusion External Advisory Council for Deloitte.
He lives in New York City with his husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 17, 2026
4⭐️
How Equality Wins is not a defense of an acronym. It is a strategic reframing of a centuries-long moral project.
Yoshino and Glasgow argue that what we currently call “DEI” is simply the latest iteration of a much older and more durable commitment to equality. Whether the acronym survives the current backlash is, in their view, beside the point. The value beneath it, the belief in equal moral worth and fair opportunity, remains stubbornly alive.
What makes this book compelling is its refusal to respond to backlash with panic. Instead, the authors propose adaptation. Equality work, they argue, must absorb pressure rather than merely resist it; transform rather than entrench. They situate today’s culture wars within demographic reality (a rapidly diversifying nation, generational shifts, globalization) and make the case that public opinion is far more supportive of equality’s underlying values than media narratives suggest.
One of the most provocative sections centers on “supporting dissent.” The authors contend that a sustainable majority requires engaging moderates, the politically disengaged, and even some traditional conservatives — not dismissing them. They insist that equality initiatives must be reconciled with robust protections for free speech, and that advocates must tolerate conversations that make us uncomfortable. That stance will challenge readers across the political spectrum.
At its strongest, the book offers a pragmatic coalition-building roadmap grounded in law, research, and real institutional experience. The strategies are clear, structured, and actionable. At times, the tone leans managerial and institutional rather than deeply structural; readers looking for a more radical critique of capitalism or systemic power may find it measured. But that moderation is also part of its thesis: broad-based change requires a broad-based coalition.
Ultimately, this is less a manifesto than a blueprint, an argument that equality is not dying, but evolving. For readers interested in the legal, cultural, and strategic future of inclusion efforts in the United States, this is a thoughtful and steady contribution.
Thank you to the authors, Simon Element/Simon Acumen and NetGalley for an early copy to review.
How Equality Wins is not a defense of an acronym. It is a strategic reframing of a centuries-long moral project.
Yoshino and Glasgow argue that what we currently call “DEI” is simply the latest iteration of a much older and more durable commitment to equality. Whether the acronym survives the current backlash is, in their view, beside the point. The value beneath it, the belief in equal moral worth and fair opportunity, remains stubbornly alive.
What makes this book compelling is its refusal to respond to backlash with panic. Instead, the authors propose adaptation. Equality work, they argue, must absorb pressure rather than merely resist it; transform rather than entrench. They situate today’s culture wars within demographic reality (a rapidly diversifying nation, generational shifts, globalization) and make the case that public opinion is far more supportive of equality’s underlying values than media narratives suggest.
One of the most provocative sections centers on “supporting dissent.” The authors contend that a sustainable majority requires engaging moderates, the politically disengaged, and even some traditional conservatives — not dismissing them. They insist that equality initiatives must be reconciled with robust protections for free speech, and that advocates must tolerate conversations that make us uncomfortable. That stance will challenge readers across the political spectrum.
At its strongest, the book offers a pragmatic coalition-building roadmap grounded in law, research, and real institutional experience. The strategies are clear, structured, and actionable. At times, the tone leans managerial and institutional rather than deeply structural; readers looking for a more radical critique of capitalism or systemic power may find it measured. But that moderation is also part of its thesis: broad-based change requires a broad-based coalition.
Ultimately, this is less a manifesto than a blueprint, an argument that equality is not dying, but evolving. For readers interested in the legal, cultural, and strategic future of inclusion efforts in the United States, this is a thoughtful and steady contribution.
Thank you to the authors, Simon Element/Simon Acumen and NetGalley for an early copy to review.
February 19, 2026
Many people who support equality feel hopeless right now. This book is a true stand-out because it offers hope and inspiration, but it does so in a realistic, grounded way that makes you feel like its goals could actually be achieved - not in some distant future, but here, now.
I think that part of what makes people feel hopeless at the moment is that the assault on equality and inclusion seems too strong: every day brings new lawsuits, political attacks, activists pushing propaganda to destroy "DEI." The authors of this book are legal scholars who help the reader separate what's real from what's fluff. They break it all down in accessible language that anyone can understand. And then they give clear, practical guidance on what all of us can actually DO to fix the mess that we're in.
Highly recommended.
I think that part of what makes people feel hopeless at the moment is that the assault on equality and inclusion seems too strong: every day brings new lawsuits, political attacks, activists pushing propaganda to destroy "DEI." The authors of this book are legal scholars who help the reader separate what's real from what's fluff. They break it all down in accessible language that anyone can understand. And then they give clear, practical guidance on what all of us can actually DO to fix the mess that we're in.
Highly recommended.
March 4, 2026
It’s easy to despair as the meaning and goals of DEI are twisted turning so many reasonable people against them even though most support their true purpose. While I have been inspired by many books on the subject, I found the legalistic approach the authors take very compelling. The Seven Strategies are all well described and actionable at all levels. I feel better prepared to engage people on the topic. Most people are on the side of the just and we need as many supporters as possible to achieve the true potential of America.
One of my favorite books of the year. Highly recommended.
One of my favorite books of the year. Highly recommended.
March 9, 2026
Actionable strategies for all.
March 24, 2026
Excellent explanation of how to move forward after Trump cancelled DEI. Highly recommend this to my academic colleagues and others who refuse to give up on DEI principles and practices.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews