Introduction
What is the point of school? Why do we invest so much of taxpayer’s dollars into education? Some claim it’s just to prepare students for a career, however this is extremely myopic.
Functioning adults need self-awareness and knowledge about the society they live in, not only in terms of written law but also in the complex ways society functions with all its different cultures and people. Education and critical thinking enable our intellectual growth as a country and drive a more ethical and equal society. If we can understand the perspectives and struggles of those around us, we can more adequately strive to better ourselves and fight for the rights of others. Looking at education as a tool for career preparation alone disables the pursuit of a more fair and equal country while allowing for established societal cycles to keep certain groups prosperous at the expense of others.
On January 29th, 2025, President Donald Trump passed an executive order that completely halted educators’ right to teach about important issues that have remained in our country since its founding.
Anyone who believes that Donald Trump’s policy on education will be beneficial for the future of education in this country is as ignorant as the rhetoric they preach.
A Racist Policy on Racial Education
In the order, entitled “Ending Racial Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”, Trump claims that “demanding acquiescence to ‘White Privilege’ or ‘unconscious bias,’ actually promotes racial discrimination and undermines national unity.” In the order, he goes on to state that in the classroom, no mention of racial discrimination can be made that “adopt[s] identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics.”
In other words, a conversation about race and gender that points out the discrimination that has existed for hundreds of years would violate this order. His intent is seemingly to protect students from more historically privileged groups like Caucasians from feeling shame for actively benefiting from a broken and unfair system. Rather than addressing racial inequality, Trump would rather sit in a corner with his eyes closed and ears plugged while making ridiculous claims about the state of our country.
When it comes to racial inequality in America, the facts are simple: while only making up 13% of the population, African Americans make up 26% of police shooting victims (according to to The American Public Health Association ), more than 30% of students who are suspended, expelled, or arrested (according to USA Facts), and the United States Census Bureau reported that 17.9% of Black citizens are below the poverty line compared to 8.3% of the white population.
According to Trump, the best way to address America’s blatant inequality problem is by keeping districts with the most students of color receiving 16% less state and local revenue than districts with the fewest students of color according to The Education Trust, signing an executive order, ironically called “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” This order prohibits the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs from doing things like “promoting ‘diversity’ ” or “allowing or encouraging Federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.” These edicts demand avoiding educating the upcoming generations about the unfair systems they will soon inherit because the Trump administration doesn’t want the white kids to feel ashamed.
The common argument against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices is that it can be unfair, and this is a sympathetic argument especially when viewed through a small-scale lens. However, to deal with an issue as large as racial disparagement, it’s important to widen the scope.
DEI practices are not meant to be permanent by any means, by implementing them at colleges and workplaces they can overcome the present cultural cycles and make up for the systemic and institutional racism that has taken root in our country. This will, over time, with the manual change to more accurately represent societal demographics, bring us closer to fixing the problem as minority families will be able to move out of poverty and make going to college out of high school the norm. When this happens, more minorities will get accepted to colleges based on merit alone such that it accurately represents demographics without the need for federal intervention, removing the need for DEI practices. It seems unfair for now, but given that the reason for its necessity can be traced back to slavery, Jim Crow laws, and practices such as redlining, all things caused or approved of by our government, it is only fair that that same government works to fix these issues.
Along with a thriving cultural precedent, the systemic problems in our schools and legal system have created a cycle of oppression where the only ones able to progress in life are those who are already ahead. What our government should be doing is addressing racial inequality in schools so that future generations might be aware of the cultural biases and perhaps overcome them and implement diversity laws to allow Black families to get a foot in the door. Trump’s “solution” is to pretend inequality doesn’t exist and continue taking advantage of the broken system.
A Homophobic Policy on LGBTQ+ Education
Gender-affirming care and LGBTQ+ rights are other topics of discussion banned in the executive order. The rationale for these bans stems from the homophobic idea perpetuated by bigoted fearmongers that our schools have turned into a cult of overt homosexual perversion and the idea that LGBTQ+ is akin to a kink.
It’s important to establish that this is a completely false sentiment.
Anyone claiming otherwise is ignorant of history and real statistics, instead relying on unsubstantiated claims and cherry-picking flawed data.
There is ZERO evidence that, aside from the reversal of preferred gender, homosexuality functions any differently than heterosexuality in a biological way. The executive order is reliant on opinions, not truths, which will harm people’s ability to build perspective, empathy, and understanding about an already marginalized group.
Homosexuality is not a new concept, and the argument that it is “unnatural” to the human condition is completely ridiculous, if you look at the relationship humanity has had with homosexuality over the past thousands of years, we find that a pro-gay outlook is more common in ancient civilizations than an anti-gay one. Some of the more blatant examples include the story “The Passion of the Cut Sleeve” from the third century BC, Plato’s “Symposium” from circa 385–370 BC, the paintings on the tomb Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep from circa 2400 BC just to name a few. Men loving men and women loving women is not a new concept, homophobia, on the other hand, in many ways is and can be traced back to ideology, not fact.
And an extremely harmful ideology as well, according to The Bureau of Justice Statistics, “The rate of violent victimization of lesbian or gay persons (43.5 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 16 or older) was more than two times the rate for straight persons (19.0 per 1,000).”
In the executive order, Trump has a focus on anti-Trans policy as well, calling gender-affirming surgery “mutilation” and specifying that the trans experience should not be discussed in schools. He, along with all politicians claiming that Transgenderism is a mental illness, fails to explain his reasoning clearly, utilizing logical fallacies like straw man arguments and appeals to incredulity that boil down to “because I said so.”
According to the American Journal of Surgery, “Regret after gender-affirming surgery is less than 1%. Regret after elective plastic surgery operations is significantly higher. Regret after major non-surgical life decisions is significantly higher.”
If gender-affirming surgery was truly mutilation, the regret rate would be much higher. It doesn’t make them dangerous around kids or more likely to commit a crime, either. Those assertions have never once been proven in any credible study.
Furthermore, access to gender-affirming surgery has been proven to be highly beneficial for the mental state of
Transgender people. According to The National Library of Medicine, “people with a history of gender-affirming surgery had significantly lower odds of past-month psychological distress, past-year tobacco smoking, and past-year suicidal ideation compared with [Transgender] people with no history of gender-affirming surgery.” and yet, information about this life-saving surgery is withheld from our most mentally vulnerable groups and labeled as “mutilation” and the people who need it labeled as “mentally ill”.
Banning the discussion in schools not only harms Trans kids in that they are unable to express themselves and their true selves but also does nothing to attack the discrimination they face in everyday life.
Final Thoughts
According to The Center for American Progress and Pew Research Center, 53% of all LGBTQ+ individuals and 75% of Black adults reported experiencing discrimination, and despite that, the words “lesbian,” “bisexual,” “gay,” “transgender,” “sexual orientation,” and “gender identity” have been completely removed from WhiteHouse.gov. Furthermore, books such as “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas (which explores racism and police violence through the eyes of a Black teenager), “Flamer” by Mike Curato (a graphic novel about an LGBTQ+ youth), and “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (a novel that takes a microscope to racism), all books that have no problematic element except honesty about the struggles of life as a minority, have been banned. Why? Because they portray “obscenity?” Firing ‘banned book coordinators’ gives bigots free rein to control the in-school conversation to match their flawed and ignorant worldview.
Politicizing the issue of discrimination is a major problem—this is not a two-sided issue. No compromise is owed. This is one group trying to ignore the struggles of the other because it makes them feel guilty or challenges their subjective ideology. As a result, schools teaching a version of history that ignores the negative past of this country and refuses to acknowledge the struggles of marginalized groups is anti-education and academically dishonest. Anyone who sees a group of students analyzing the themes in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and views it as a group of students learning to hate each other because of the past or merely learning how to analyze a text is simply missing the point. By banning this discussion, Trump has officially declawed the best attack on discrimination, education.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela (2003)
“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” – Benjamin Franklin
“All publications, books, and media that do not conform to socialist principles or that undermine the socialist state must be suppressed.” – Joseph Stalin (1992)
“The primary purpose of education is to strengthen loyalty to the leadership, teach the greatness of the Workers’ Party, and instill the principles of Juche in the minds of the youth.” – “Law on Education” (2009), North Korea
“All education must align with the Marxist-Leninist doctrine and serve to foster loyalty to the socialist state. Any materials promoting capitalist or anti-revolutionary ideas must be eradicated from school curricula.” – Stalin’s “Decree on Education” (1930s)
“Patriotic education means a presentation of the history of America grounded in … the concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified; and the concept that celebration of America’s greatness and history is proper.” -Donald Trump (2025)
