EXCLUSIVE Trump targets major 'woke' public school in push to rip apart 'racially charged' programs
President Donald Trump 's Department of Education is ramping up investigations into public schools in order to weed out any attempts to target students by their race.
The Department's Office for Civil Rights is preparing to announce a Title VI investigation into Evanston-Skokie School District 65 in Evanston, Illinois, according to the Trump administration.
A Department of Education official confirmed that the Office of Civil Rights sent the letter to District officials.
'The policies and practices to which the District allegedly subjects students and teachers shocks the conscience. Amid a dismal academic achievement record, the District appears to focus on unlawfully segregating students by race, instructing students to step forward and others to step back on the basis of race, and associating 'whiteness' with the devil. If true, how is this conceivable in America today?,' Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor told the Daily Mail.
The complaints were raised by Dr. Stacy Deemar, a drama teacher teaching in the district represented by the Southern Legal Foundation.
Deemar sued District 65 on the grounds of racial discrimination and creating an 'ongoing racially hostile environment' due to their 'race based programming' but it was dismissed by a federal judge in August.
Deemar first raised the complaints to the civil rights division in 2019, but the investigation was suspended days after President Joe Biden took office and dismissed in September 2024.
The complaint, obtained by the Daily Mail, was refiled on April 24th in a memo to the Department of Education and contains multiple examples of training, teaching, and organizing students and faculty by singling them out according to their race.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964) prohibits discrimination in schools on the bases of race, color, and national origin in education programs.
If found guilty of a Title VI violation, schools face a loss of federal funding.
The school district was accused of pursuing race-based discriminatory programs for public school students for years, according to the complaint.
In one incident, the school district required staff to acknowledge their racial identity in especially if they were white and treated them accordingly, even physically separating them for training based on their race.
Part of the training programs included 'The Courageous Conversations' program which aggressively pursued the idea of 'white privilege' in the education system.
'Educators must acknowledge White skin privilege and work to develop a deeper understanding of this reality in order to fully examine the cultural implications of Whiteness in schools,' the district wrote.
During staff meetings and trainings, the school district would segregate staff by race in order to address different equity practices based the color of their skin.
The investigation also includes materials and lesson plans describing the idea of the nuclear family as 'whiteness/white supremacy.'
'It [is] important to disrupt the Western nuclear family dynamics as the best/proper way to have a family[.]' one example included in the report reads.
Evidence displayed in the southeastern Legal Foundation complaint
Other documents urged teachers to practice 'equity' while disciplining students to make sure that 'students of color, students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students, and students with limited English proficiency' were not 'marginalized' in schools.
Evidence displayed in the southeastern Legal Foundation complaint
One elementary school separated students by race into 'racial affinity' meetings twice a month to discuss 'white privilege, internalized dominance, [and] microaggressions,' the complaint noted.
At another event, students were required to take two steps forward if they were white and non-white student were directed to take two steps back to help teach the concept of 'colorism privilege.'
One lesson instruction book pictured in the report, described 'Whiteness' was a 'bad deal' with the devil.
Whiteness, the image detailed, allowed white people to get 'stolen land, stolen riches, special favors.'
Other materials in the district featured an article warning that even 5-year-old children were 'racially biased' and needed to be reconstructed about racial behavior.
The announcement of the investigation symbolizes President Trump's goal of eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion materials in public schools which became widely implemented after the Black Lives Matter riots in 2019.
The carefully constructed Southeastern Legal Foundation report features 18 pages of material documenting incidents they feel breaking Title VI laws.
'SLF is thankful that the Trump Administration recognizes that enough is enough and, following Dr. Deemar's new OCR complaint, has launched an investigation into unconscionable racial discrimination in District 65 - Evanston, IL,' said Southeastern Legal Foundation Executive Director Kimberly Hermann to the Daily Mail.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Trump is deeply obsessed with US history – but he has learned all the wrong lessons from it
Today the US army will parade in style along the National Mall in Washington DC to celebrate its 250th anniversary. This also just happens to be the 79th birthday of President Donald J Trump. As commander-in-chief, he will take the salute from a viewing platform on Constitution Avenue. But this is not a mere vanity project, as some critics have claimed. History really matters to the US's 47th president. One of Trump's last acts before reluctantly leaving the White House in January 2021 was to publish a report by his '1776 Commission', created to 'restore understanding of the greatness of the American Founding'. Deliberately, the commissioners included few university historians because universities were described as often being 'hotbeds of anti-Americanism, libel, and censorship that combine to generate in students and in the broader culture at the very least disdain and at worst outright hatred for this country'. The 1776 Commission demanded a return to truly 'patriotic education', declaring: 'We must resolve to teach future generations of Americans an accurate history of our country so that we all learn and cherish our founding principles once again. We must renew the pride and gratitude we have for this incredible nation that we are blessed to call home.' In this spirit, on 2 May this year, the president posted that he was renaming 8 May and 11 November respectively as 'Victory Day for World War II and Victory Day for World War I' because 'we won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance', and it was time for the US to 'start celebrating our victories again!' The parade on 14 June is also intended to raise the curtain on a spectacular nationwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of US independence, extending right across the country and culminating on 4 July 2026. According to the White House website, one feature will be a video history series that 'tells the remarkable story of American Independence. It will highlight the stories of the crucial characters and events that resulted in a small rag-tag army defeating the mightiest empire in the world and establishing the greatest republic ever to exist.' History on parade, indeed. As is often the case, Trump does start with a valid point. After he witnessed the extravaganza of Bastille Day in 2017, where French and American troops marched down the Champs-Élysées to celebrate the centenary of the US's entry into the first world war, he was determined to stage a parade of his own. So what's wrong with that? Shouldn't countries be proud of their past? OK (if you don't mind the cost). But pride should be rooted in honesty, especially when Nato in Europe is engaged in a proxy war in Ukraine against Vladimir Putin, a systematic falsifier of history. And if we're trying to be honest, world wars aren't like the World Series with one country trumping all the others and winning almost single-handedly. Take the second world war. On 3 May this year, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Trump's claims as 'pretentious nonsense', asserting that 'Victory Day is ours and it is 9 May. So it was, so it is, so it will always be!' Medvedev is now an obedient Putinist, but he and other Russians rightly point to their huge losses in 1941-45 – roughly 27 million people. Stated differently, in the three years from June 1941 to June 1944, between Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union and the D-day landings in Normandy, more than 90% of the German army's battle casualties (killed, wounded, missing and prisoners) were inflicted by the Red Army. That puts Alamein and Tunis, Anzio and the liberation of Rome into a different perspective. Yet Americans can rightly say that they were in a league of their own as a 'superpower' – a word coined in 1944 to signify 'great power and great mobility of power'. Their huge C-47 transport planes and the B-17 and B-24 bombers allowed the US to wage war right across the world. Their modern fleets of aircraft carriers, built to avenge Pearl Harbor, island-hopped across the Pacific to Japan itself. The Pacific war ended with the firebombing of Tokyo and the nuclear obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Or consider the speed of the remarkable breakout from Normandy that enabled allied armies to liberate Brussels on 3 September 1944, occupying positions they had not expected to reach until May 1945. When an astonished Winston Churchill asked how the GIs were being fed and supplied, US general Omar Bradley said he was running trucks up to the front 'bumper to bumper, 24 hours a day'. Ford delivered the goods. But Britain also played a crucial part in victory. Had our embattled island gone the same way as Scandinavia, France and the Low Countries in the summer of 1940, Hitler would have thrown all his resources against the Soviet Union, while Roosevelt's US would probably have turned in on itself and concentrated on defending the western hemisphere. Instead, a combination of Churchillian leadership, modern fighters linked to the new Chain Home system of radar and the courage of the RAF pilots managed to keep Hitler at bay. Eventually, Britain became the essential supply base and launchpad for the liberation of Hitler's Fortress Europe. And so in 1944-45, the allied armies converged on Germany from east, west and south. Of course, it was an unholy alliance, animated by divergent aims and values. But the extermination of nazism was a goal all the allies shared. With this in mind, let's glance back to the US's most important victory: independence. Yes, this was in large measure a David v Goliath story of 'a small rag-tag army defeating the mightiest empire in the world'. The US's independence was indeed testimony to George Washington's leadership and his troops' courage and resilience (reinforced by his insistence on inoculation against the smallpox epidemic). But this was also a world war as the British empire battled against its global foes. Crucially, by the 1780s Britain lost naval supremacy because (unusually) three rival seapowers had combined against it: France, Spain and the Dutch. It was blockade by the French fleet that forced Lord Cornwallis's historic surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and British acceptance of American independence. The purpose of historical research is to set events in context, not to boost national pride. The story of the US's founding, like that of Hitler's defeat, reminds us that allies matter – in the past, the present and the future. That should not be forgotten when history goes on parade. David Reynolds's most recent book is Mirrors of Greatness: Churchill and the leaders who shaped him. He co-hosts the Creating History podcast
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Trump's financial disclosure reveals true extent of family crypto venture
President Donald Trump has pulled back the curtain on the staggering scale of his personal and family fortune. A newly released 234-page financial disclosure reveals how Trump raked in more than $57 million last year from a single, family-linked cryptocurrency venture, rocketing the controversial project to the top tier of his income sources. The firm, a decentralized finance (DeFi) outfit called World Liberty Financial, was co-founded in 2024 not just by Donald but also his three sons, Don Jr., Eric, and even 18-year-old Barron alongside Zach Witkoff, the son of real estate mogul and Trump foreign policy envoy Steve Witkoff. While skeptics may have mocked Trump's forays into meme tokens and NFT trading cards as gimmicks, the eye-watering profits suggest otherwise. Trump personally holds between $1 million and $5 million in crypto assets, according to the filing, but the platform itself has proven to be a family cash machine. The Trump 'coin' was just created in digital code out of nothing – but suddenly it was worth billions. In fact, $57,355,532 is the figure what Trump took in from World Liberty Financial alone, the disclosure reads. While the venture has sparked concerns over ethical boundaries and presidential profiteering, the White House insists Trump's assets are safely walled off in a trust controlled by his children. The Trump family, who have faced relentless accusations of enriching themselves from Trump's first term, have showed a growing interest in digital currencies this time around. Last July, Trump promised to make America the 'crypto capital of the planet' by enacting new laws to pave the way for financial institutions and pension funds to invest in these controversial and risky assets, bringing them the respectability that has so far eluded them. Trump has credited his entrepreneurial youngest child, Barron, 19, with educating him about crypto. The pair, together with Barron's half-brothers Donald Jr and Eric, are heavily involved in his crypto business, World Liberty Financial, which Trump announced last September and which also has its own tradeable coin or 'token'. On its website, the company vows to 'leverage the global reach and recognition of the Trump brand' to promote crypto. Critics insist the President has created a new (and ingenious) vehicle for his supporters to give him money – risking corruption on an epic scale. Now anyone wanting to curry favor with him could quietly fill the Trump family coffers by buying the coins and pushing up its price. Putting money into $Trump coins would lend his political backers a degree of plausible deniability: the could legally argue that the purchase is not a bribe but an investment in an asset. Donald Trump disclosures by nloffredo 'Now, you can get your piece of history,' proclaims the blurb for the President's meme coin on its website. 'This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn't back down, no matter the odds.' The revelation comes at a time when Trump's finances are under renewed scrutiny, not only due to his sprawling business empire, but because of historic legal penalties leveled against him. In addition to the $57 million crypto windfall, Trump disclosed: A $454 million civil fraud judgment from New York Attorney General Letitia James. $88 million in damages awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll. More than $100 million in mortgage liabilities tied to properties like Trump Tower and the Doral Golf Club. Those staggering judgments are marked as 'stayed pending appeal,' indicating they haven't yet come due, but they remain looming shadows over Trump's presidency. The sweet smell of success - ocne spritz of Trump's cologne and you'll smell like a billionaire - or at least someone who votes for one Trump's digital trading card collection is seen during its release in 2022 Trump made $3 million from his 'Save America' coffee table book A 234-page document details Trump's various finances including income from family crypto firm along with seven-figures from guitars, sneakers, watches and books Despite not taking a penny of the $400,000 salary as president of the United States, Trump's income continues to soar. Beyond crypto, he collected: $3 million from his 'Save America' coffee table book $2.5 million from Trump-branded sneakers and cologne $1.3 million from 'The Greenwood Bible' $1.05 million for a line of '45' electric guitars Another $1.06 million from licensing his image for digital trading cards In total, the disclosure paints a portrait of a man earning more as president than many former leaders earn after leaving the White House - yet Trump appears to be doing it while still in office. The political implications of Trump's crypto venture are hard to ignore. World Liberty Financial has operated largely outside traditional financial oversight, offering governance tokens, staking rewards, and decentralized yield pools tied to Trump-branded digital assets. Trump's holding of 15.75 billion governance tokens gives him significant sway over the platform's future - a fact that has alarmed government watchdogs and ethics officials alike. Of particular concern is the platform's close ties to Trump family members, the blurred lines between campaign promotion and product branding, and the mounting influence of crypto lobbying within the administration. But Trump's defenders argue it is simply an example of the free market in action. While World Liberty Financial and real estate remain the largest drivers of Trump's fortune, the president's speaking fees and royalties continue to stack up. The report lists more than $700,000 in speaking engagements, mostly paid for by conservative groups and international business forums. His real estate empire is also thriving again. In Florida alone, Trump's resorts and golf properties including Mar-a-Lago, Doral, and Jupiter, generated $217.7 million last year, according to the document. Even overseas, Trump-branded deals continue to deliver. A licensing agreement for a development in Vietnam brought in a $5 million reinforcing the idea that the Trump brand, far from fading, has gone global under his second term. By comparison, Vice President J.D. Vance's filing was a modest 15 pages as he disclosed $50,000 in earnings from his best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy and some smaller investment returns. The contrast underscores what many already knew: Trump is unlike any president in modern history, not just in style or policy, but in sheer wealth generation while in office. The Trump brand continues to be lucrative and as questions mount over ethics, influence, and the reach of crypto in US politics, one thing is clear: Donald Trump's second presidency isn't just about power but about profit.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US immigration officials told to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, NYT reports
June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has told immigration officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, the New York Times reported on Friday. The report cited an internal email and three U.S. officials with knowledge of the guidance. "Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels,' Tatum King, a senior official at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in guidance to regional leaders of the department, the Times added. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the guidance to the Times and said: 'We will follow the president's direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America's streets,' Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House and U.S. department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of regular business hours. The report comes after Trump said on Thursday he would issue an order soon to address the effects of his immigration crackdown on the country's farm and hotel industries, which rely heavily on migrant labor. U.S. farm industry groups have long wanted Trump to spare their sector from mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain dependent on immigrants. Trump is carrying out his campaign promise to deport immigrants in the country illegally. But protesters and some Trump supporters have questioned the targeting of those who are not convicted criminals, including in places of employment such as those that sparked last week's protests in Los Angeles.
