Department of Education clarifies school DEI guidelines, saying Black History Month doesn't violate order
The guidance came after the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to the departments of education in all 50 states in mid-February notifying them of a Feb. 28 deadline to comply with the order.
"Title VI prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin," the guidance reads, adding "Schools may not operate policies or programs under any name that treat students differently based on race, engage in racial stereotyping, or create hostile environments for students of particular races.
"For example, schools with programs focused on interests in particular cultures, heritages, and areas of the world would not in and of themselves violate Title VI, assuming they are open to all students regardless of race," the guidance continued. "Nor would educational, cultural, or historical observances – such as Black History Month, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or similar events – that celebrate or recognize historical events and contributions, and promote awareness, so long as they do not engage in racial exclusion or discrimination."
"Whether a policy or program violates Title VI does not depend on the use of specific terminology such as 'diversity,' 'equity,' or 'inclusion,'" the guidance, dated Feb. 28, also said.
The letter in February from Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education, said, "Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon 'systemic and structural racism' and advanced discriminatory policies and practices."
"Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them—particularly during the last four years—under the banner of "diversity, equity, and inclusion" ("DEI"), smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline," he wrote.
"All educational institutions are advised to: (1) ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law; (2) cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and (3) cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race," Trainor concluded. "Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding."
The letter comes after President Donald Trump signed executive orders directing agencies to provide a plan to eliminate federal funding for "illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology." He also signed orders to end DEI programs in federal agencies.
The Department of Education previously announced the removal of mention of DEI from documents and websites. The department also placed employees who led DEI initiatives on leave and dissolved its Diversity & Inclusion Council.
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Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why many Black Americans are boycotting big-box retail stores: ‘using my money to resist'
Rebecca Renard-Wilson has stopped shopping at Target and all things Amazon including Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. These days, the mother of two shops for the things she needs at farmer's markets and small mom-and-pop stores, or she goes directly to the websites of products she wants to purchase. 'I have options of where I put my money,' Renard-Wilson, 49, said. 'Yes, Target's convenient. Yes, Amazon Fresh is on my drive to my kids' school. The options that I have discovered have opened up new relationships. I feel more connected to my community because I'm not shopping at those big-box places. I'm able to now use my money not only to resist places that don't align with my values, but I'm able to now support places that do align with my values. To me, that's a win-win.' Renard-Wilson is among a growing group of African Americans who are ditching corporate big-box retail stores that rolled back their DEI programs and instead are shopping at small and minority- and women-owned businesses they believe value their dollars more. In February, more than 250,000 people signed a pledge to boycott Target after the Rev Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Baptist church outside of Georgia, called for a 40-day 'Target Fast' that started at the beginning of the Lenten season. Related: Trump is terrified of Black culture. But not for the reasons you think The boycott has become a movement across social media and within neighborhoods nationwide with the shared goal of rejecting systems that do not value the African American community, and it has already affected Target. In the first quarter of the year, the company reported a $500m loss in year-over-year sales, citing reaction to the boycott and lower foot traffic. 'Righteous indignation against racism' Shortly after taking office in January, Donald Trump eliminated DEI programs across offices in the federal government. Retailers, including Target, Walmart and Amazon, followed the president's lead in eliminating their DEI programs and initiatives. In 2020, following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, millions marched in the streets in protest of police violence – and tech giants, retailers, Fortune 500 companies and industries pledged their commitment to diversity practices. Target specifically committed to invest $2bn in Black-owned businesses. It increased the amount it spent with Black-owned suppliers by more than 50% and doubled the number of Black-owned brands on its shelves. Customers found Black-owned hair products such as TGIN (Thank God It's Natural), Camille Rose and Pattern (by actor Tracee Ellis Ross); beauty brands Black Opal and TLB (The Lip Bar); and lifestyle merchandise such as Be Rooted and Tabitha Brown's products including mugs, stationary, tote bags, home decor and kitchen essentials. Some considered it to be a 'racial reckoning'. By 2024, the reckoning had soured as racial justice fatigue set in with the re-election of Trump. 'We are standing in righteous indignation against racism and sexism in this nation,' Bryant told his congregation. Target, he said, 'made a commitment after the death of George Floyd that you would invest $2bn into the Black community before December 2025'. When Target dropped its DEI programs and initiatives in January, Bryant said the company was 'reneging on the financial commitment you made to our people'. Bryant partnered with the US Black Chamber of Commerce to provide a digital directory of more than 150,000 Black-owned businesses across the US and asked the more than 250,000 people who registered to buy directly from their online platforms and not from Target. And during the Easter weekend, Bryant said that five mega-churches turned their spaces into retail malls so congregants could support Black-owned businesses. It wasn't an easy decision to boycott Target, Renard-Wilson said. She has friends who have products on Target shelves and she liked supporting their businesses. When she learned about the boycott on social media, she was conflicted. 'Some people were saying if you boycott Target, then you are basically crippling those Black, queer or Latino creatives who have had to put so much capital, so much time and so much resources just to get their stuff on the Target shelves,' Renard-Wilson said. 'I was like, 'Damn, now this is complicated.'' The retailers' decisions to eliminate their DEI initiatives, Renard-Wilson said, demonstrated that they 'don't really care about' minority communities. There was a time, she said, when she shopped at Target and Amazon Fresh pretty regularly, because they were convenient. Sometimes she visited Amazon Fresh two or three times a week, because it was on the way to her kids' schools. Renard-Wilson, who lives with her husband and two young children in Los Angeles, gets many of the goods that she used to purchase at Target or Amazon from Costco now, which doubled down on its commitment to DEI. 'We didn't really mess with Costco that much because it was a headache to get to and the parking was always crazy,' said Renard-Wilson. 'But when Target was like, 'Forget DEI,' and Costco was like, 'We value diversity,' I was like, 'I'm going to spend my money in a place that's aligned with my values.'' And when Renard-Wilson can't find what she needs at Costco, she'll go to small local mom-and-pop stores or buy directly online from the source. She found a deodorant she likes produced by a Black woman-owned company. Renard-Wilson is also part of a Facebook group where people share where to get certain items. The financial cost of not shopping at Target or Amazon has been minimal, Renard-Wilson said. In fact, when she compared one of her pre-boycott credit card bills with her credit card bill during the boycott, she had spent $2,000 less by not shopping at the big-box retailers. She points out the one time her husband, a teacher, paid more than double for workshop supplies that he could have gotten much cheaper at Amazon. Other than that, Renard-Wilson said most products have only been a few bucks more along with the cost of shipping sometimes. 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'My grandmother does not have the privilege to say no to a Walmart if that's the nearest grocery store that she has.' 'I believe the elders deserve to have a break at times. They deserve to have support and to have care. That is where [my grandmother] is in her chapter in her life. She's in a place where she deserves care,' said Jones, a communications consultant. She also noted that there's a difference in the robust grocery market in larger cities versus the food deserts in the deep south. Jones said she's shopped at Kroger or Costco since the boycott. If she goes to a said rural area, she has to stop at a corner store or market for goods. But more importantly, she's noticed the big financial cost to boycotting. Most of her beauty or hair products used to be purchased from Amazon, Jones said, but now she buys items from Ulta, which has remained committed to its DEI initiatives put forth in 2020 and 2021. 'There is a price to pay for protesting,' she said. 'Invest in people who care about me and my community' Though Jones has had to pay more for products, she said she would not be going back to big retailers anytime soon, even if they reinstated their DEI initiatives. Target, especially, was a disappointment, Jones said. 'Target marketed itself prior to Trump's last election as being pro-DEI and being pro-Black creatives. Our faces were all around the store and even in the aisles,' she said. Bryant told CNN's Erin Burnett in May that the Target boycott would continue until things shift. He's taking a page out of the history books, pointing to the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott that lasted 381 days. That protest, which occurred 70 years ago, serves as a model. Most recently, Bryant called for a boycott of Dollar General stores and McDonald's. Renard-Wilson said she doesn't plan to return to the big-box retail stores, even if there is a shift to embrace DEI again. 'I do not have any desire to continue supporting capitalistic systems that put profit over people,' Renard-Wilson said. 'I'm going to use my money and try to invest in people who care about me and my community.' This story was co-published and supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project journalism non-profit. Solve the daily Crossword
The Hill
an hour ago
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Yosemite ranger fired for hanging pride flag at El Capitan
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Newsweek
an hour ago
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Student Loan Forgiveness Backlog Surges
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A federal program designed to help public service workers erase student debt is facing a growing backlog, with little sign of relief. Last week, a Department of Education court filing showed that the queue for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Buyback program had continued to swell in recent months, even as the agency processed applications. The program allows borrowers to make a lump-sum payment so that periods of deferment or forbearance—when loan payments are temporarily paused—count toward the 10 years of qualifying payments required for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The program is designed to ensure that nonpayment periods are counted toward loan forgiveness. Newsweek has contacted the Department for Education for comment via email. Why It Matters Over the past year, tens of thousands of borrowers caught in SAVE plan forbearance have turned to PSLF Buyback for relief. The program has become especially critical as about 8 million Americans have been barred from making student loan payments following a court injunction that temporarily halted the SAVE plan because of a Republican-led legal challenge. Because time spent in forbearance under SAVE does not count toward loan forgiveness, many borrowers who have already completed years of qualifying public service find themselves in uncertainty. PSLF Buyback was created to bridge that gap, particularly for those approaching the end of their 10-year repayment timeline. An exterior view of the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2022. An exterior view of the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2022. GETTY The Growing Backlog Even as some applications are processed, the department has struggled to keep up with demand. In its first filing on PSLF Buyback earlier this year, part of an interim agreement to provide monthly updates following a legal challenge over income-driven repayment plan delays, the department reported that it had processed 1,472 applications in April—with 49,318 still in the queue. In May, the number of pending requests grew to 58,761, while 3,312 requests were processed. At the end of June, there were 65,448 pending requests, with 2,224 given a decision that month. In July, the backlog grew further to 72,730, with 3,280 requests being processed. Overall, there has been a 47 percent increase in the number of requests between April and July. There is also a backlog for applications for income-driven repayment plans as many borrowers in SAVE forbearance have sought to switch into other plans to continue making progress toward loan forgiveness. The Trump administration increased pressure on borrowers to change plans after resuming interest charges earlier this month for those enrolled in SAVE. "The Department urges all borrowers in the SAVE Plan to quickly transition to a legally compliant repayment plan—such as the Income-Based Repayment Plan," Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement in July. "Borrowers in SAVE cannot access important loan benefits and cannot make progress toward loan discharge programs authorized by Congress." A major obstacle for borrowers is that switching repayment plans is not a quick process. The Department of Education is dealing with a massive backlog of income-driven repayment (IDR) applications, a problem made worse when the Trump administration temporarily shut down the entire processing system in the spring. While the department has reported some progress, the logjam remains significant. Last month, officials reported 1,511,504 pending IDR applications. As of the latest filing, the backlog had dropped to 1,386,406, with 304,844 applications processed in July.
