The US Department of Education headquarters at Federal Office Building No. 6, now known as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, on May 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

The Department of Education under the Trump administration has largely abandoned generations of enforcing discrimination against Black students, casting those efforts as unfair to white students.

Programs that aim to help Black students have now been deemed "illegal DEI " — diversity, equity and inclusion — by the White House. Schools have been investigated, and some have lost federal funding.

What they’re saying: In a statement, the Education Department said programs receiving federal funding must follow the law, which prohibits discrimination based on race.

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"Serving student needs and following the law are not irreconcilable mandates. Advocates and educators have no reason to stress if they abide by the law," said Amelia Joy, a department spokesperson.

Civil rights advocates, however, describe the actions as a complete inversion of legal history.

"It’s literally flipping the purpose of civil rights law on its head, not just harming Black students and students of color, but entire school communities," said Michael Pillera, director of educational equity issues at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. "It’s unmoored from the actual history of our country and untethered to the reality of life in this country."

The U.S. government has opened investigations or joined litigation over a wide range of efforts to address racial inequality. The Justice Department is investigating programs to increase the number of teachers of color in Rhode Island and Iowa. And grants to districts to train teachers or recruit school mental health workers have been discontinued for mentions of diversity in recruitment.

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