Joy Reid Warns: America Will Collapse Like Ancient Rome Without Full Diversity Embrace

Former MSNBC host Joy Reid delivered a sharp warning during a recent podcast, claiming that the United States risks collapsing like the Roman Empire if it abandons diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Speaking in a live Substack video discussion with political commentator Wajahat Ali, Reid argued that both nations and corporations that fail to embrace diversity are setting themselves up for failure.

“If you strip the country down to just White folks, we’ll end up like Europe — aging, declining, and powerless,” Reid said, according to Fox News. “Rome fell because it suppressed diversity, and the U.S. will go down the same road if we don’t change.”

Reid pointed the finger at companies like Walmart and Target, criticizing them for scaling back their DEI initiatives, which she linked to political shifts under the Trump administration. She warned that businesses focusing primarily on older, White customers are making a strategic mistake.

“If you’re under 20 years old today, you’re likely part of a generation that’s majority non-White,” Reid noted, highlighting America’s rapidly changing demographics.

She emphasized that by 2045, the U.S. will no longer have a White majority, and that building a future marketing strategy around a shrinking demographic would be “unsustainable.”

“They are a finite group,” she said bluntly about older White Americans. “They are going to die.”

Reid also compared America’s future to Latin American countries, suggesting that the U.S. is naturally moving toward becoming a majority-brown nation, with states like Texas and California already leading the way.

Throughout the discussion, Reid stressed that diversity isn’t just a moral imperative — it’s a key to survival. She pointed to history, using the fall of Rome as an example of what happens when societies stifle inclusion.

Before leaving MSNBC, Reid was known for her outspoken takes on racial and demographic issues, often criticizing White voters — particularly White women — for political outcomes she opposed, such as Kamala Harris’s failed 2024 campaign.

In this latest conversation, she and Ali blasted the corporate world for pulling back from DEI, warning that ignoring America’s changing face could have catastrophic consequences both economically and socially.

Reid’s comments reflect the broader national debate over race, identity, and the future direction of the United States, as businesses and political leaders grapple with a society that looks very different from the past.