Local Tennessee government still pushing DEI, being ‘cautious’ amid federal ban
August 12, 2026
In Knoxville, Tennessee, employees are continuing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, despite federal actions against it.
“At this point, the city is continuing as we always have until we learn something otherwise,” Pamela Cotham, the Assistant Purchasing Agent at the City of Knoxville, told Accuracy in Media’s undercover journalist on hidden camera.
“The work hasn’t stopped; we’re just cautious,” she reiterated.
According to Cotham, the city was previously “very vocal” about its DEI practices. While it is still pushing the woke ideology, employees are simply doing so in a covert manner.
“As you know, DEI is just not the thing right now,” she told AIM’s undercover journalist.
“The current trend is that, you know, everything is at the federal level and, as we all know, if it’s at the federal, it flows down, it will eventually come down. We will react once it hits our level, and then the mayor will decide what level we react. Of course, she’s all in,” she continued.
The Trump administration has issued several executive orders targeting DEI throughout the country, whether it be inside government apparatuses or public education. Violating these can put institutions at risk of federal funding.
Despite this, local governments like that of the city of Knoxville have managed to fly under the radar with little oversight.
Since AIM’s visit to Knoxville, the state of Tennessee successfully passed both the Dismantle DEI in Employment Act and the Dismantling DEI Departments Act. The former bill “prohibits local governments and public universities from making hiring decisions based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability,” while the latter prohibits government or public education institutions from maintaining DEI offices or departments.
While this legislation is a step in the right direction for the state, AIM has no reason to believe the city of Knoxville is now in compliance with anti-DEI laws.
Visit SaveTennesseeCities.com, where you can send one convenient message to all relevant officials. Tell them taxpayers shouldn’t be funding non-compliant cities in their efforts to push woke DEI.