Not to put too fine a point on it, but there almost certainly would be no affirmative action without Martin Luther King. At the very least, it would not have started when it did. After having consulted with King and other civil rights leaders, President Lyndon Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, which required federal contractors to engage in “affirmative action” to fight racial bias against Blacks. This mandate, along with the historic civil rights legislation of the 1960s for which King was primarily responsible, eventually led to what we now refer to as “DEI” – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.