The department had said it would ‘no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination’ in schools and colleges.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has sued the Department of Education (ED) following the agency’s crackdown against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at educational institutions.
On Feb. 14, the ED’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a letter to educational institutions receiving federal funds, notifying them to cease any use of race preferences or stereotypes when determining scholarships, admissions, prizes, hiring, promotions, sanctions, and other programs or activities.
Many institutions have used the false premise of the United States being built upon “systemic and structural racism,” advancing discriminatory practices on this basis and attempting to justify them under the banner of DEI, the letter said.
The letter criticized DEI programs prioritizing certain ethnicities while teaching students that people of a certain race “bear unique moral burdens that others do not.” Such ideologies stigmatize students from these races, denying them the ability to fully participate in school life, the letter stated.
“The Department will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions,” the letter read.
OCR then published an FAQ detailing some of the questions that may arise as a result of the letter.
On April 3, ED sent letters to state commissioners overseeing K-12 state education agencies, asking them to certify their compliance with the anti-discrimination obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to continue receiving federal funds.
In a lawsuit filed on April 15 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the NAACP said the policies outlined in these “Title VI Documents” published by the education department “discriminate against NAACP members.”
The lawsuit alleged that the policies “violate due process with unconstitutionally vague terms, and infringe upon NAACP members’ First Amendment rights to continue receiving instruction and programming free from viewpoint discrimination.”
Title VI Documents allegedly ask schools to comply with ED’s interpretation of Title VI “by threatening them with unjustified funding cuts and legal challenges if they do not eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs,” the lawsuit stated.
