A conservative legal firm is asking the federal government to reveal the truth about the creation of a race-focused organ transplant policy developed by the Biden administration. 
America First Legal <a href="https://media.aflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/06111524/AFL-v-HHS-Complaint.pdf">sued</a> the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this month seeking information on the creation of the model that requires organizations that oversee the transplant process to prioritize &#8220;equity.&#8221; The suit says that the departments have not complied with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking documents on the model’s creation. 
“Biden officials embedded race into organ transplant policy and rebranded discrimination as ‘equity.’ This FOIA lawsuit seeks to expose the outside influence behind the IOTA Model, including the communications and meetings that shaped this program,” said America First Legal lawyer Megan Redshaw.
The policy in question is the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) model, which took effect in July 2025 after being implemented in the waning days of Joe Biden&#8217;s presidency. The model is set to be in place for six years.
The rule says that the federal government wanted to <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/04/2024-27841/medicare-program-alternative-payment-model-updates-and-the-increasing-organ-transplant-access-iota">increase</a> “equity in kidney transplantation by creating performance-based incentive payments for participating kidney transplant hospitals tied to” kidney transplant access.
Citing Biden’s <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government">executive order</a> on embedding “racial equity” policies in the federal government, organ procurement organizations are required to submit health equity plans “to address health outcome disparities.” Organ procurement organizations are federally designated non-profits that oversee the organ transplant process. 
The goal of the model was to address “health equity problems” through “financial incentives that reward IOTA participants that improve their kidney organ offer acceptance rate ratios over time and hold them financially accountable for not doing so.”
In August 2025, America First Legal requested documentation from HHS and CMS on whether any organ procurement organizations were involved in the creation of the model. Two organizations mentioned in the lawsuit were the United Network for Organ Sharing and the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations.
The Association of Organ Procurement Organizations said it had no comment on the litigation and that it was not involved in the creation of the model. 
The association told The Daily Wire that it “was not involved in CMS’s development of the IOTA Model. Like many stakeholders, AOPO has participated in formal public comment opportunities on proposed federal policies affecting organ donation and transplantation.”
The request to HHS was submitted on August 18, 2025, and the request to CMS was submitted the same day. America First Legal’s suit says that it has received no records or any communication from HHS or CMS apart from an initial acknowledgment the day the request was submitted. 
“The American people have a right to know who helped design that agenda, who pushed it, and what role outside stakeholders played in shaping policy that governs life-and-death decisions,” said Redshaw. 
HHS told The Daily Wire that it does not comment on pending litigation.

MixCollage-13-Feb-2026-12-14-PM-2184

Could This Be The End Of Race-Based Organ Transplants?

Department of Health and Human Services

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Equity

Joe Biden

Organ Donation

During the summer months, educators across the country flock to professional development conferences, often on the taxpayers’ dime. These events are supposed to sharpen the instructional skills of teachers and equip them with new methods for helping students succeed, addressing real challenges of education, such as declining test scores, reading comprehension, and math proficiency.
But as Defending Education’s analysis of the programming shows, what actually dominates these conferences is not literacy strategies or math interventions.
Instead, the recurring themes are race, social justice, gender, activism, and equity. From English to math, and from history to science, the same ideological buzzwords surface again and again. It’s little wonder parents are concerned, or that the nation has grown more politically divided.
Take the National Education Association (NEA), the country’s largest teachers union. At its <a href="https://web.cvent.com/event/555fe259-c382-4f14-87b0-319c288f9e68/websitePage:83a0a9c7-c495-4fe0-ad95-5eb99de3dbc2">Conference on Racial and Social Justice</a> in Portland this summer, activism, not academics, took center stage.
Unions like the NEA make no effort to hide their contempt for Donald Trump and the values of his supporters. At its annual Representative Assembly, the union <a href="https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/20250706-ratoday-issue-5.pdf">approved business items</a> labeling Trump’s agenda as “fascist” and opposing efforts to eliminate the Department of Education, which it called racist and anti-democratic. In direct response to a Supreme Court decision (Mahmoud v. Taylor) affirming religious parents’ rights to opt their children out of LGBTQ curricula, the NEA allocated $209,000 to push back and expand LGBTQ advocacy in schools. In total, the NEA committed more than $340,000 <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/national-education-association-approves-business-items-accusing-president-trump-of-fascism-and-authoritarianism-opposing-supreme-court-ruling-and-not-using-adl-materials/">toward initiatives</a> designed to counter conservative policies.
This union-driven activism is not confined to Portland. Across the country, teachers are being coached to use classrooms as platforms for reshaping opinions on society’s most sensitive issues. Students are not simply taught about history or literature; they are encouraged to become activists themselves. The worldview behind this approach borrows heavily from Marxist theory, framing society as an endless struggle between oppressors and the oppressed. That lens is being embedded into lesson plans, teacher training, and classroom culture, gradually shifting education away from its original purpose — academic instruction — toward political reeducation.
The sessions at NEA’s conference illustrate this shift. One workshop, “Building Narrative Power for Education Justice,” trained teachers to use storytelling to fight “anti-truth” and anti-LGBTQ legislation. Another warned about “White Christian nationalist forces” allegedly exploiting pan-Asian communities. Additional sessions covered “racial battle fatigue,” blurred lines between racism and ableism, and framed climate change as disproportionately harming communities of color, women, and students with disabilities. One even linked the MAGA movement to Jim Crow and Native land theft. Teachers were urged to affirm transgender student identities, disrupt curriculum challenges, and fight political opponents under the banner of education justice.
The conference also promoted the <a href="https://custom.cvent.com/820B5689CD804AEAA83FC39F9FBC8CD3/files/0a702792cebf4a3ea1c9b294c6c985b5.pdf">NEA’s pronoun guide</a>, which encourages teachers to adopt nontraditional pronouns such as ze, zir, zirs, and zirself, and to display their own pronouns as a sign of being a “safe person.” Misgendering, teachers were told, is itself a form of marginalization.
While parents worry about declining math and reading scores, union-sponsored trainings are focused on dismantling ableism, confronting White Christian nationalism, and embedding queer theory into K–12 classrooms. These are not the priorities of most American families, but within the union bubble, they are treated as urgent and non-negotiable. 
And it’s not just the NEA. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) filled its 2024 <a href="https://s1.goeshow.com/ncte/annual/2024/conference_program_sessions.cfm">conference with sessions</a> such as “Disrupting the Canon with LGBTQIA+ Themes,” “Queer and Trans-Affirming Education,” and “Antiracist Pedagogy Workshop.”
In a perfect example encapsulating how this ideology makes its way into the classroom, one teacher at a school district in New York <a href="https://www.jecsd.org/districtpage.cfm?pageid=3211">reframed Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”</a> as a “cli-fi,” or climate fiction text, using the play as a vehicle to teach climate change.
Math education has not been spared either. <a href="https://www.nctm.org/atlanta2025/">The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’</a> (NCTM) <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/the-national-council-of-teachers-of-mathematics-2025-annual-meeting-features-sessions-on-black-feminist-mathematics-pedagogy-antiracist-math-equitable-grading-social-justice-and-whiteness/">2024 conference</a> features sessions on antiracist math, whiteness, and social justice.
One session, <a href="https://www.aievolution.com/ntm2501/index.cfm?do=ev.viewEv&amp;ev=1951">Reflecting on My Whiteness</a>, describes math itself as a “white, patriarchal space” and offers strategies to “confront the oppressive forces of whiteness” and “dismantle inequitable practices” in the classroom. <a href="https://www.aievolution.com/ntm2501/index.cfm?do=ev.viewEv&amp;ev=2046">Another highlights</a> how black women in math education “disrupt systems of oppression” and center “Black Girl Joy.” A third, <a href="https://www.aievolution.com/ntm2501/index.cfm?do=ev.viewEv&amp;ev=1930">Democracy and Data</a>, claims math should be used to advance democratic participation through a social justice lens.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) follows the same script. At its <a href="https://web.cvent.com/event/b256b940-7874-4081-a4af-34edc50fd735/summary">July conference</a>, sessions focused on “racial harm,” “LGBTQIA+ allyship,” climate activism, and “mass mobilization training.” Teachers were also told to resist curriculum oversight as a political attack. In one session, the AFT admitted the obvious: the pandemic had a “devastating effect” on student literacy.
Yet, the same union that now bemoans literacy loss was a key player in lobbying to keep schools closed during COVID, a decision that fueled the very learning setbacks reflected in the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. Despite <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Elementary_and_Secondary_School_Emergency_Relief_%28ESSER%29_funding_by_state?utm_">$190 billion</a> in federal COVID-19 relief funds, the data indicate a failing K–12 education system.
Meanwhile, many educators are turning to <a href="https://defendinged.org/ethnicstudies/">ethnic studies</a>, often presented through a victim–oppressor lens. The radical ethnic studies group, Xicanx Institute for Teaching and Organizing (XITO), held a <a href="https://www.xicanxinstitute.org/summer-2025">2024 Summer Institute</a> that <a href="https://www.instagram.com/xitotucson/p/DKk82TWSPMe/">promoted</a> “decolonial popular education” and urged educators to view teaching as a political weapon. Its sessions featured activists tied to <a href="https://www.ethnicstudiespedagogies.org/gallery/07%20-%20TIAHUI%20-%20A%20Decolonial%20Framework.pdf">anti-Western and antisemitic rhetoric</a>, with the explicit goal of uniting street activism and classroom instruction. And yes, school districts are footing the bill with taxpayer dollars for teachers to attend.
The common thread across these trainings is the glorification of victimhood and activism, with teachers encouraged to turn students into activists for leftist causes. Rather than instilling confidence and agency, this mindset risks fostering learned helplessness, where students believe success is unattainable without intervention.
Summer training conferences are less about improving learning outcomes and more about transforming classrooms into engines of political activism — serving unions and activist groups, but leaving behind the very students schools are meant to serve.
* * *
Kendall Tietz is an investigative reporter for Defending Education.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-18-Sep-2025-09-53-AM-6641

The Public School Activist Pipeline: ‘A Joyous Rebellion’

Anti-Racism

Education

Leftists

LGBTQ

National Education Association

Public Schools

Students

Teachers

Teachers Unions

In 2025, American students from kindergarten through law school are dumber than they’ve ever been, and we needn’t look beyond the nation’s abysmal math and English literacy <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NAEP scores</a> to prove it. Now, more than 200 California bar exam takers have had their failing scores <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/more-than-200-california-bar-exam-takers-move-from-fail-pass-after-new-scoring-adjustment?intcmp=tw_fnc&amp;taid=683e94171dc732000173e032&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">adjusted</a> to “pass,” indicating that the newest crop of California lawyers are dumber than they’ve ever been, too. What’s more, under simultaneous consideration by the state bar is a rule allowing students who registered for — but withdrew from — taking the bar exam altogether, to practice law under the supervision of “qualified” attorneys, bar exam be hanged.
Something nefarious is afoot, and its name is equity.
Public schools in Arlington, Virginia, <a href="https://ednewsva.org/arlington-public-schools-lowers-grading-standards-in-the-name-of-equity/">allow</a> students to redo assignments, turn in late work, and reduce the weight given to homework and quizzes. Georgia public schools went more than <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/georgia/articles/2022-06-10/no-a-to-f-grades-for-georgia-public-schools-for-third-year#:~:text=Georgia%20will%20go%20a%20third,of%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.&amp;text=June%2010%2C%202022%2C%20at%202%3A30%20p.m.">three</a> years without assigning A-F grades to any student in the state.
Portland, Oregon public schools have <a href="https://lawenforcementtoday.com/portland-school-district-launches-initiative-to-ban-teachers-from-giving-zeros">implemented</a> grading practices that bar teachers from assigning &#8220;zeros&#8221; to students who cheat or fail to turn in assignments — a process ostensibly geared toward eliminating &#8220;racial disparities&#8221; and &#8220;inequities&#8221; in grading and instruction.
Education failures like these bear a direct relationship to “equity” — a principle geared toward equality of outcome, not equality of opportunity — and its ruinous impact on every aspect of American learning. Equitable grading for example, a concept popularized by <a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/ed-magazine/19/05/grade-expectations">Joe Feldman</a>, author of the book “Grading for Equity,” seeks to replace traditional grading concepts which use measurable inputs and outcomes (like class attendance and participation, test scores, and completed assignments) with “equitable grading” techniques that rely on “accuracy,” “bias resistance,” and “motivation.” This noxious trend has replaced what little academic rigor American educational institutions do impart with practices that dumb down all students and guarantee the equivalent of academic participation trophies.
If you think that this sounds unfair, lowers the expectations of all students, or weakens academic rigor, you’d be right on all accounts. 
If you think that it might cause confusion for teachers, students, and parents, or reduce clear metrics by which students can be measured, or give students a false sense of security as they approach higher education and the workforce, you’d be right again.
Among popular “equitable grading” practices are “minimum grading” policies, which prevent teachers from assigning students less than 50% credit. Common, too, are prohibitions on grade penalties for late work and bans on grading homework and class participation. But not only do these exercises risk removing both discretion from teachers and crucial incentives for students to study hard, they dilute expectations and are nearly guaranteed to harm students they are purportedly meant to help.
Equitable grading policies are also big business, as our <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/equitable-grading-consultants/">research shows</a>.
In fact, a small research cohort yields evidence of expenditures of $9 million in American tax dollars spent on equity consultants since 2014, with California as the biggest offender. Our survey of 39 school districts across seven states in the past 11 years is proof positive that many educational institutions are more concerned with race essentialism and progressive, <a href="https://defendinged.org/resources/understanding-equitable-grading-jargon/">jargon-laden</a> social experimentation than they are with preparing their students for the real — and often intellectually challenging — world.
When activists demand “equity,” what they’re really saying is that the basic American value of color-blind equality of opportunity, with the rules applying equally to everyone, regardless of race — is itself, racist, because equality of opportunity doesn’t always produce equality of results. But “equity,” or attempting to achieve equality of results, requires the discrimination of one group over another — even though both started from the very same place, with the very same teachers, tools, resources, and tests at their disposal. “Equity” flies in the face of the Constitution’s guarantee that all Americans receive “equal protection” of the laws, with none garnering more or less.
Only <a href="https://citizensandscholars.org/resource/national-survey-finds-just-1-in-3-americans-would-pass-citizenship-test/">36%</a> of Americans can pass a multiple-choice test consisting of items from the U.S. Citizenship Test. An 8th grade <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/79470/1895-8th-grade-final-exam-i-couldnt-pass-it-could-you">final exam</a> from 1895 has stumped even the brightest of today’s scholars. As rigor falls, so do standardized test scores — hence the decision of many colleges and universities to make college applications “test-optional,” and eschew the traditionally required ACT or SAT exam scores.
State and local education institutions must focus on rigorous instruction and strong family-community ties that build trust, not on ensuring every student is pushed forward, no matter their readiness, in order to meet an unspoken social, equity-driven metric. This is how employment — and ultimately, economic — crises are made.
American students need more rigor, more discipline, more accountability, and more stringent grading systems.
And please, for Heaven’s sake, let’s get better lawyers.
* * *
Sarah Parshall Perry is vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. 
Correction: We have corrected the spelling of the word &#8220;afoot.&#8221;

Setting the page on fire with some hard work

American Students Are Dumber Than Ever, Thanks To ‘Equity’

American Students Are Dumber Than Ever, Thanks To 'Equity'

American Universities

Opinion

School districts across the country spent more than $9 million on equity consultants since 2014, with California as the biggest offender, according to a new report.
A total of 39 school districts across seven states spent $9,028,000 on consultants for equitable grading in the past 11 years, according to a new <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/equitable-grading-consultants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Defending Education.
Equitable grading is &#8220;a popular grading framework that seeks to address &#8216;inequities&#8217; and &#8216;bias&#8217; in education,&#8221; Defending Education said.
&#8220;It is rooted in the belief that all inequitable outcomes are the result of implicit and systemic bias (for example, white supremacy) and creates barriers to success for minority and low-income students,&#8221; the group said.
California was responsible for the bulk of the spending — the Golden State shelled out a total of $7,733,000 for consultants that included equitable grading guidance.
One California district alone spent more than $4 million.
Modesto City Schools paid Creative Leadership Solutions and California Education Partners $4,297,000 since 2022 for professional development that included equitable grading practices, according to the report.
Of Modesto&#8217;s spending, about $3,937,000 came from federal funds, Defending Education&#8217;s report said.
The report counted $4,561,000 in total federal funds spent on equitable grading consultants.
One firm, Crescendo Education Group, consulted for at least 26 California school districts, including Los Angeles, as well as districts in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Mexico.
<div>
“There are serious concerns about consistency in K–12 grading practices — and unfortunately, equitable grading is the latest feel-good education fad to gain traction,&#8221; Rhyen Staley, Researcher for Defending Education said in a statement to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;This grading philosophy reflects far-left ideological biases while discriminating against merit-based behaviors that are proven to lead to success. Discouraging hard work and meritocracy harms all students — but it’s especially damaging to the lowest performers,” Staley said.
Liberal public school advocates often <a href="https://parents4publicschools.org/when-schools-are-underfunded-children-suffer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argue</a> that school districts are underfunded, especially those in urban areas. However, the report shows that large school districts in blue cities paid big money for equitable grading consulting,
New Mexico was the second-biggest spender in the report, with Albuquerque Public Schools spending nearly $600,000 on consulting that included equitable grading.
Chicago Public Schools spent just under $180,000, and Boston Public Schools spent more than $102,000.
Other major school districts that forked over consulting fees included Connecticut&#8217;s New Haven Public Schools and Ohio&#8217;s Springfield City School District.
While school districts have been spending taxpayer dollars on how to make their grading practices more &#8220;equitable,&#8221; American children&#8217;s grades have sloped downward in recent years.
Reading and math scores plummeted during the COVID pandemic. Parents and teachers hoped kids would learn more quickly to catch up after remote learning ended, but those hopes have not been realized.
As of last year, four years after the pandemic hit, students continued to decline in reading and made little improvement in math, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/naep-test-scores-nations-report-card-school-60150156e41b8518be3b6eabf77d0c66" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the national exam known as the Nation’s Report Card.
</div>

Education Funding Concept

EXCLUSIVE: School Districts Spent More Than $9 Million To Make Grading Practices More ‘Equitable’

School Districts Spent Over $9 Million On Equitable Grading Consultants

California

If 2014 was a “<a href="https://manhattan.institute/event/the-great-awokening" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Awokening</a>,” then 2020 was the start of a second wave – a movement that’s led the entire nation to wrestle with questions around race, diversity, and our origin story.
But what will 2026 – the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence – bring? Some hope it’ll be a time to celebrate and commemorate the American story. But others – including many influential organizations – stand in opposition, seeking instead to fundamentally transform Americans’ understanding of our history.
Foremost among these activist organizations is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, our <a href="https://monumentlab.com/monumentlab-nationalmonumentaudit.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“nation’s largest supporter of the arts and the humanities.”</a>
In 2020, Mellon placed <a href="https://www.mellon.org/news/mellon-foundation-announces-transformation-its-strategic-direction-and-new-focus-social-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social justice at the center of its grant-making initiatives</a>. Since then, it’s issued <a href="https://www.heritage.org/american-history/commentary/the-mellon-foundations-assault-american-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">numerous and sizeable</a> grants supporting anti-racist and pro-LGBTQ+ programs.
Notably, it gave <a href="https://www.mellon.org/grant-details/gender-and-lgbtq+-history-20450131" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$150,000 to the New-York Historical Society</a> in 2021 to support a “Gender and LGBTQ+ History Fellow.” In 2023, that same society <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/06/somethings-queer-colonial-williamsburg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partnered with Colonial Williamsburg</a> to host a teacher chat on “Queer History and Methodologies” and a workshop on “Best Practices for Teaching Queer History.” This course, open to educators from preschool to college level, was officially approved by New York state as qualifying toward public educators’ continuing education requirements.
In 2023, the Mellon Foundation joined the Alice Walton Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Pilot Philanthropy in a “<a href="https://www.mellon.org/news/new-investments-for-more-diverse-leadership-in-art-museums" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leadership in Art Museums” initiative</a> that committed over “$11M in funding to museums to increase racial equity in leadership roles…” at museums.
This program is in addition to the <a href="https://www.nationalparks.org/news-and-updates/press-releases/mellon-foundation-grants-over-13m-to-the-national-park-foundation-to-support-thirty-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-the-humanities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Park Service Mellon Humanities Fellowship</a>,” which funds postdoctoral fellows at national parks to research “how the parks are impacted and/or informed by issues related to gender and sexuality equality, the legacy of the civil rights movement, and the history of labor and productivity.”
One of these fellows, placed at James Monroe’s Highlands (his home from 1799 to 1823), wrote <a href="https://clioandthecontemporary.com/2023/10/31/engaging-different-communities-highland/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that 2020 marked</a> a “racial and social” reckoning at museums, which she described as “preservers of white supremacist versions of the past.”
In 2022, Mellon <a href="https://www.nationalparks.org/news-and-updates/press-releases/mellon-foundation-grants-over-13m-to-the-national-park-foundation-to-support-thirty-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-the-humanities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expanded this post-doctoral program</a>, committing over $13 million for 30 new fellows at our national parks. Another Mellon fellow remarked that this program “has the potential to transform the stories told at many of the country’s national parks.”
Words like “transform” and “reimagine” are often indicators of post-modernist mischief.
For example, the Mellon Foundation has committed <a href="https://www.mellon.org/article/the-monuments-project-initiative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$500 million to transforming</a> our nation’s monuments landscape, in part because it saw a lack of “U.S.-born Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, or self-identified LGBTQ+ people” in the list of top 50 individuals most frequently memorialized.
This sort of transformation seeks primarily to achieve equity of identity characteristics rather than recognition for meritorious deeds that all Americans can claim as part of our history. Ultimately, this approach favors inclusivity over accuracy.
As was previously noted, the Mellon Foundation has been partnering with the National Park Service on some of its initiatives. The National Park Service and Foundation are currently making changes to the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, to be completed by this spring and the 250th anniversary, respectively.
Work at the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/thjework.htm?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=experience_more&amp;utm_content=small" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jefferson Memorial will include</a> “expanded and reimagined exhibit space” and “new state-of-the-art exhibits” that will provide “more perspectives as it shares Thomas Jefferson’s multi-faceted story.”
<a href="https://www.nps.gov/wamo/planyourvisit/undercroft.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">At the Lincoln Memorial</a>, new exhibits “will highlight the construction history of the memorial and discuss how the Lincoln Memorial has become the nation’s foremost backdrop for civil rights demonstrations.”
Both of these efforts have been enabled by donations from philanthropist and businessman David M. Rubenstein, who funded the exhibits on slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and <a href="https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/understand-montpeliers-leftist-turn-follow-the-money" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Madison’s Montpelier</a>.
Americans can hope that the new exhibits at two of our foremost national memorials will be informative, balanced, and accurate. But the ones funded by Rubenstein at Montpelier are decidedly not.
There are currently <a href="https://www.montpelier.org/visit/galleries-and-exhibits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no exhibits at Montpelier focused on James Madison</a> and his contributions. And the ones on offer contain <a href="https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/report/tale-three-presidential-houses-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many distortions, “gotcha” efforts, and at least one factual error</a>.
This raises concerns for the memorials both of Thomas Jefferson, Madison’s close friend and ally in the cause for human freedom, and for Abraham Lincoln, who urged us to give all honor to Jefferson—to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times.
Today, a visible divide exists between those who want to commemorate our first 250 years of history and dedication to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and those who want to transform and reject it.
In this moment, perhaps we should turn to Abraham Lincoln, who began his famous <a href="https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/house-divided-speech-3/">House Divided speech</a>, “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it.”
Anniversaries are times to reflect, assess, and resolve a way forward. More, they are cause to celebrate, remember, and demonstrate gratitude.
America is indeed exceptional. This free country has granted us, its current posterity, the opportunity to continue in the work we are in, to prove to ourselves, and the world, that the noble ambition of a self-governing nation can indeed be kept.
* * *
Brenda M. Hafera is the Assistant Director and Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation&#8217;s Simon Center for American Studies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Note: This article has been edited for clarity.

New Dawn over Washington

Post-Modern Mischief At America’s National Parks And Museums

Post-Modern Mischief At America's National Parks And Museums

Founding Fathers

Heritage Foundation

Museum

National Park Service

Woke Culture

A professional development group sponsored by Procter &amp; Gamble and other companies has quietly altered the requirements for a race-based internship program that might flout federal non-discrimination law.
Called “BLAC,” an acronym for “Building Leaders and Creators,” the <a href="https://www.blacinternship.org/#our-mission">internship program</a> aims to diversify the advertising industry and explicitly employs racial eligibility criteria on applicants.
“Applicants to the BLAC internship program should identify as Black or BIPOC,” the program’s requirements <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241212175045/https://www.blacinternship.org/">previously read</a>. The site has been modified since The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment to the organization, with the site now <a href="https://www.blacinternship.org/#what">specifying</a> that applicants should &#8220;be a member of a group underrepresented in advertising or marketing.&#8221; BLAC did not respond to a request for comment.
David Pivtorak, a lawyer who has active cases <a href="https://www.piv4law.com/new-blog/2022/8/23/former-american-express-employee-files-nationwide-discrimination-class-action">against</a> American Express for <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/amex-pushed-white-employees-promoted-black-colleagues-meet-racial-quotas-lawsuit-alleges">alleged racial discrimination</a> against white employees, explained that this program may be against the law.
“Generally speaking, racially discriminatory internships are unlawful under various state and federal laws,” Pivtorak told The Daily Wire. “If the entity that created this internship or the ad agencies where the interns are sent to work are subject to Title VII, or equivalent state laws, then the program would certainly violate anti-discrimination laws as it specifically discriminates against individuals solely based on race.”
He went on to add that “the main question is whether the interns could be considered ‘employees’ under the relevant statutes” before explaining that the interns are paid “is a significant factor in determining employee status.”
A <a href="https://vimeo.com/641669799">promotional video</a> for the program calls it “a paid summer internship for black creative thinkers at independent advertising, marketing, and creative agencies across the country.” BLAC also describes itself as “a champion for the more diverse and inclusive advertising industry of the future” that seeks to “inspire and be inspired by a new generation of Black talent.” Accepted applicants participate in the 12-week-long internship opportunity at one of BLAC’s 29 advertising host agencies.
The program is one of a wide array of internship opportunities and job postings uncovered by The Daily Wire that appear to engage in racial discrimination. A number of large companies, including Apple, Oracle, Nascar, McKinsey and Company, and several others, have hosted programs that imposed racial selection criteria on applicants.
Now the incoming Trump administration will have the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-doj-could-crack-down-on-dei-fueled-discrimination-against-whites-and-asians">opportunity to crack down</a> on companies that discriminate against white and Asian applicants in service of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement.
BLAC boasts several sponsors, including Procter &amp; Gamble. The company’s logo is accompanied by a statement explaining its support for the race-based program.
“Racial inequality is the inescapable reality of America. It didn’t begin with us, but it can end with us. If we choose to act. For years, we have used our voice as a leading advertiser to shine a light on inequality, highlight bias, and spark dialogue that leads to understanding and action,” the consumer goods company states. “Through BLAC, we are proud to support an initiative that will help create more representative, equitable and powerful work across the advertising industry, shaping our world for the better.”
Procter &amp; Gamble did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the internship program, BLAC also advertises a slate of <a href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5ffc9aaa9c8615838b6941ed/6706ca8c0518034dea3e73ba_BLAC%20DEI%20Offerings%202025.pdf">DEI programming</a> options from other organizations, intended for advertising agencies. “Central to the mission of BLAC is helping advertising agencies build and sustain environments that support the success, growth, and ultimate leadership of diverse talent,” the organization says.
One consultancy offers companies on-call DEI specialists for $1,200. The group also charges over $6,000 to “develop and deliver EDI-specific employee survey to unpack the current state of the organization,&#8221; adding that it &#8220;will identify trends and provide high-level recommendations for change based on results.”

Procter and Gamble

‘BLAC’ Internship Program Quietly Alters Race-Based Application Requirements

Discrimination

Diversity

Racial Discrimination

As President Trump’s <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive orders</a> have mercifully begun dismantling discriminatory and illegal DEI and CRT programs throughout the government and our educational systems, we see a sharp increase in companies and organizations joining the already snowballing trend of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/01/30/war-on-dei-deutsche-bank-stands-firmly-behind-diversity-program-as-these-major-organizations-drop-them/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dumping DEI programs</a>. Perhaps more importantly, because these orders are merely following through with his successful campaign promises, they indicate that Americans themselves finally understand and reject the damage wrought by DEI.
If you needed further evidence that DEI is in its death throes, note how the DEI Industrial Complex defends DEI as they cover its rapid demise, feeling the need to proclaim anew the baseless tropes they used to help launch it originally. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dei-diversity-equity-inclusion-corporate-programs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS</a>,<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-missing-point-dei-meritocracy-experts/story?id=117975699" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> ABC</a>,<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-dei-practice-trump-is-trying-dismantle-2025-01-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Time</a>,<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-dei-practice-trump-is-trying-dismantle-2025-01-30/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Reuters</a>, and others have been including something like a “What is DEI?” section to their latest articles, reasserting that DEI is an extension of civil rights, that it is about helping disadvantaged groups, or telling us that <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-executive-order-puts-stem-diversity-efforts-hold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STEM research</a> and underrepresented scientists will suffer if DEI is eradicated.
Reuters offered this typical definition of DEI, “DEI programs have been part of workplace diversity efforts to ensure fairer representation for groups seen as historically marginalized, such as African Americans, LGBTQ+ community members, women, disabled people and other ethnic minorities in the United States.” Fortunately, despite the propaganda push, the DEI fairness mask has come off — and it is hopefully being fitted for a death mask.
<a href="https://starrs.us/dei-how-to-have-the-conversation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The hypocrisy of DEI</a> begins with the very words represented by that acronym — Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/how-dei-corrupts-americas-universities">Christopher Rufo</a> has observed that, in practice, the policies bearing these labels usually promote precisely the opposite of what the words would imply. Diversity almost always involves implicit and explicit racial discrimination excluding or limiting some groups by their skin color or identity. Equity involves disparate and often unfair treatment of various identity groups (typically based on race, color, gender, and sex) in an attempt to equalize not opportunities, but outcomes. And Inclusion usually restricts ideas and people who oppose the prevailing doctrine of oppressed and oppressors.
DEI defenders commonly offer similar excuses as those for other failed attempts at Marxism. You might think that a piece titled <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/12/the-failure-of-the-dei-industrial-complex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Failure of the DEI Industrial Complex</a> in Harvard Business Review offers a sweeping indictment of DEI in general. Not quite. While admitting its undeniable failures in desired outcomes, it blames its downfall on the “lack of standards, consistency, and accountability among DEI practitioners.” In other words, the argument seems to be that it was a good idea, poorly implemented. Sound familiar?
The litany of slaughters, famines, gulags, and world wars was created by supposedly good ideas poorly implemented. If you start with flawed premises, things like standards, consistency and accountability only enhance the flaws. Such defective thinking includes believing that unequal outcomes are de facto evidence of discrimination; that diversity, not unity of shared values or esprit de corps is our strength; and that privilege and guilt are a function of DNA/skin color. In brief, poor implementation is the wrong epitaph.
As we close the casket, it is important to set the record straight. DEI is being buried today because enough Americans have finally realized that it has little to do with treating people fairly, combatting racism and sexism, helping the underserved, being more tolerant, or leveraging our differences. They now see that it is first and foremost about pitting groups against each other, lowering standards and eliminating meritocracy, and finding and magnifying perpetual grievances to benefit favored identity groups — and their facilitators.
They see that it grew into a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/dei-training-initiatives-consultants-companies-skepticism/674237/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multi-billion dollar self-serving industry</a> that was worse than ineffective; it was actually <a href="https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/dei-has-failed-we-do-not-need-more-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">counterproductive</a> — damaging all of those areas it promised to improve — often involving active discrimination and racism.
They see that our military was most profoundly impacted by DEI because, unlike the civilian world, the command structure requires immediate implementation of the destructive policies, that in just a few short years the damage done there was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cigarettes-dei-and-our-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nothing short of tragic</a> — lowering standards, morale and combat readiness, and creating the biggest recruiting crisis in half a century.
They see that even in academia, the cradle of DEI, the multi-year, largest and most expensive DEI effort to date ($250m) at the University of Michigan utterly backfired per the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/magazine/university-of-michigan-dei.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a>.
They also see that in reality DEI is simple racism — institutionalizing the favoring and disfavoring of certain individuals and groups based solely on their race and/or skin color, gender, or identity group.
Scholar and author <a href="https://starrs.us/the-dei-ruse-is-imploding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victor Davis Hanson</a> noted the beginning of DEI’s demise a year ago and rightly predicted, “In the end, DEI will implode because of its many contradictions: it is racist to the core; it is illegal and violates court decisions and the Constitution; it destroys meritocracy; and it is utterly incoherent in adjudicating who and who not deserve racial preferences.”
No, DEI is not dead yet, but it will likely be forced into academic hospice for a while — hopefully never to recover. The correct epitaph for DEI is that it is warmed over Marxism camouflaged as improved sensitivity and fairness. It is not on its death bed because of too much success too fast — too much fairness, too much racial harmony, too much improvement in outcomes of all forms. No, it is dying because, like all Marxism, it aims to foment distrust, chaos, resentment, guilt, hate, discrimination, and ultimately revolution; and most Americans have woken up to and reject that. Like every other attempt at implementation of Marxist principles, it may sound good in theory, but ultimately succumbs to reality.
Like all tyrants, DEI should not rest in peace because it should serve as yet another warning for what can happen even after the failings of countless other attempts at Marxism have been demonstrated. But regardless of how it leaves us, through burial or cremation, let’s get the eulogy right so that future generations may feel less inclined to resurrect its corpse.
* * *
Dr. Greg Salsbury is former president of Western Colorado University, on the Board of Advisors for <a href="https://starrs.us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STARRS</a>, and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Retirementology-Rethinking-American-Dream-Economy/dp/0137056532" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Retirementology – Rethinking the American Dream in a New Economy.”</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Dusk at a winter’s English cemetery seen with in-focus flowers in a burial plot.

DEI Deserves An Accurate Eulogy

Christopher Rufo

Legacy Media

Marxism

Social Justice

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to overhaul the federal hiring process and prioritize merit, making &#8220;equity&#8221; no longer an acceptable purpose for hiring someone. 
Trump signed the order which says that the government will now prioritize hiring based on skills, experience and patriotism and not things like &#8220;equity.&#8221; The executive order was one of the many signed by Trump his first day back to reverse policies put in place by President Joe Biden and implement reform. 
“This is a big deal. Merit. Our country’s going to be based on merit again, can you believe it?” Trump said as he signed the executive order. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 President Trump restores merit-based hiring to the federal government <a href="https://t.co/zcPsOO1EsL">pic.twitter.com/zcPsOO1EsL</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1881508096067113262?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“American citizens deserve an excellent and efficient Federal workforce that attracts the highest caliber of civil servants committed to achieving the freedom, prosperity, and democratic rule that our Constitution promotes,” the executive order says. “But current Federal hiring practices are broken, insular, and outdated. They no longer focus on merit, practical skill, and dedication to our Constitution.”
The order also stipulates that “equity” will no longer be a basis of hiring. 
&#8220;Federal hiring should not be based on impermissible factors, such as one’s commitment to illegal racial discrimination under the guise of “equity,” or one’s commitment to the invented concept of &#8216;gender identity&#8217; over sex,&#8221; the order adds.  &#8220;Inserting such factors into the hiring process subverts the will of the People, puts critical government functions at risk, and risks losing the best-qualified candidates.&#8221;
A fact sheet on the executive order  shared with The Daily Wire reveals that the White House believes that the government &#8220;will better serve the needs of the American people,” by prioritizing federal hiring on skills, experience, and patriotism, not commitment to radical ideologies.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737430804505000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2S7KENhvlT7FAUHjrI0iAs">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
The executive order means that the Trump administration will develop a plan to hire individuals committed to the Constitution, the rule of law, American values, the ideals of our Republic, and the will of the People, based on merit.”
This plan will include modernizing the current “outdated” hiring process in order for agencies to be better able to recruit candidates. This will include utilizing “technology to improve hiring and communication with candidates” and reducing time-to-hire by “prioritizing skills-based hiring and reducing reliance on ineffective assessments.”
<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-862379 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1024x391.png" alt="" width="1024" height="391" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1024x391.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-300x115.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-768x293.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-1536x587.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2048x782.png 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
The White House said that “fixing the hiring process” and focusing on merit “will best serve America and respect the will of the People.”
“President Trump promised the American people a government that is more efficient and effective, and that he would end the weaponization of government against the American people,” the fact sheet said.
Trump has promised to bring accountability and reform to the White House, saying that he will end the weaponization of the federal government.

Inauguration Of Donald Trump As 47th President Of The United States

Trump Ends ‘Equity’ In Federal Hiring, Promises To Only Focus On Merit

Donald Trump

Federal Government

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Education</a> (DOE) has launched a discrimination investigation into the University of Rhode Island over its use of race and sex-based scholarship programs.
The investigation from the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) comes after the Equal Protection Project (EPP) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-of-rhode-island-hit-with-civil-rights-complaint-over-discriminatory-scholarships">filed a federal complaint</a> against the university over scholarship offerings that excluded would-be applicants on the basis of their race or sex.
“OCR will investigate whether the University discriminates on the basis of race, color, or national origin by administering the scholarships” and will also investigate “whether the University discriminates on the basis of sex through other scholarship programs,” the DOE said in a letter.
The announcement comes as the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda has embedded itself throughout higher education, oftentimes informing the selection criteria for scholarship programs.
The DOE’s announcement that it is investigating the university was a direct response to the complaint filed by the EPP, which highlighted specific scholarships and their selection criteria.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl%3D1*1lail3r*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MzIyMDEyNDkuQ2owS0NRaUEwZnU1QmhEUUFSSXNBTVhVQk9JSkM0VnNsMFVreURxYXUxVWVEVWdOdjZkNzR2Y1pEeEZQeHVBcGl2R3BLaTdBMjVzT1p5TWFBdG1nRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*NDUxNDQ0NzYwLjE3MzY3ODI2NDY.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNjk1NzYwMy4zNDAuMS4xNzM2OTU3NzE2LjYwLjAuMA..&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1737044212122000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3mp2MZNwEXBk00lKmCtOss">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
“The discrimination in scholarships at URI is shocking in its breadth, far exceeding any other university we have seen at the Equal Protection Project,” the organization’s founder, William A. Jacobson, told The Daily Wire at the time of the complaint. “URI does not even try to hide the discriminatory barriers, they are all detailed on the URI website.”
One of the scholarships that will now be subject to the investigation is the Bank of America scholarship, which is designated for “two four-year scholarships for minority students, preferably one male and one female.” The Citizens Bank Scholarship, which is reserved for “minority students with financial need who live in Rhode Island,” will also be subject to the investigation.
The two are joined by the Dr. Robert L. Carothers Student Leadership Endowment, which will also be investigated and provides &#8220;annual scholarships to URI students of color who provide leadership in broad university programs.”
The EPP highlighted 51 different scholarships in the complaint to the DOE, which explained that it is starting an investigation into 35 of the scholarships while dismissing the others that were the subject of the complaint.

Dept of Education

Education Department To Investigate University Of Rhode Island’s Discriminatory Scholarships

Academia

Department of Education

U.S.

The public utilities manager of Richmond, Virginia, a proponent of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda, resigned after the city endured a crisis that left many of the city’s residents without water for days.
April Bingham <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2025/01/15/richmond-department-utilities-director-resigns">resigned</a> from her position as director of the Department of Public Utilities this week after residents of Virginia’s capital city were left without water for days following a snow storm. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-residents-left-without-water-as-pro-dei-water-manager-sits-at-the-helm">reported</a> last week that Bingham, who is not an engineer, served as the member of a committee of an organization that works to “ingrain DEI as a cultural norm&#8221; as Richmond&#8217;s water infrastructure fell into disrepair.
Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said that her <a href="https://www.vpm.org/news/2025-01-15/april-bingham-scott-morris-danny-avula-richmond-public-utilities-director">resignation</a> was “amicable” and voluntary. “It came on the heels of a pretty intense week, as we have all been responding to this crisis, thinking about what is the path forward, what does the water plant need,” Avula stated.
The city also announced that Anthony “Scott” Morris, a professional engineer and the current director of water at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, would take over as the interim Director of Public Utilities.
His professional experience provides a stark contrast with that of Bingham’s — she was the only water manager in her area who did not have a background in engineering.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Bingham is the only public utilities manager in her area without engineering experience and was appointed by Democrat mayor after running the department&#8217;s customer service wing.
Now she&#8217;s unable to say if the failures identified by the EPA led to Richmond&#8217;s water crisis. <a href="https://t.co/8DMVn3NR31">pic.twitter.com/8DMVn3NR31</a>
— Spencer Lindquist 🇺🇸 (@SpencerLndqst) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerLndqst/status/1877827678985732151?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
Under Bingham, The city’s water infrastructure was cited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including insufficient maintenance, corroded pumps, cracked filters, and outdated emergency response plans. Bingham refused to say whether or not the issues identified by the EPA contributed to the water system’s failure, but Dwanye Roadcap, the head of the Virginia Office of Drinking Water, said that some regulations had apparently been ignored.
“I can cite some regulations where we’ve got noncompliance with the regulations. That’s part of the reason why we’re out there. It’s part of the reason we’ve got a boil water advisory. It’s part of the reason why there’s no water pressure or insufficient water pressure,” Roadcap said in the midst of the crisis. “One of the things that we’re looking into is why the fail-safe systems and the redundant systems didn’t work, because you shouldn’t have this kind of problem.”
While the water infrastructure fell into disrepair, Bingham served as a member of a committee of an organization that works to “ingrain DEI as a cultural norm,” a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-residents-left-without-water-as-pro-dei-water-manager-sits-at-the-helm">Daily Wire report</a> found. Bingham is listed as an allyship and mentorship leader for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the Virginia branch of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), a professional organization for water management officials.
The committee has <a href="https://www.vaawwa.org/305562/Page/Show?ClassCode=Page&amp;Slug=dei-resources">hosted talks</a> on “equitable decision making,” “building an inclusive work force,” and “advancing woman leaders through mentorship/allyship” while also <a href="https://www.vaawwa.org/documents/en-us/b3baf3b3-059e-4754-9d8e-a784254cc451/1">promoting</a> various different DEI resources.
Bingham, who earned a <a href="https://www.wric.com/news/taking-action/why-did-these-richmond-city-employees-make-more-than-mayor-stoney/">salary of $217,000</a> in 2023, was celebrated as “the first woman to serve in this critically important role” when she was first appointed by former Democrat Mayor Levar Stoney.

Richmond Water Crisis

Richmond, Virginia’s Pro-DEI Water Manager Resigns After Residents Left Without Water

inclusion

Virginia

An Ohio school district is facing a federal complaint over a discriminatory employment program that may have illegally barred teachers from participating on the basis of their race and sex.
Parents Defending Education (<a href="https://defendinged.org/">PDE</a>), a non-profit organization dedicated to opposing left-wing ideology in the education system, filed the complaint against Middletown City School District over the district’s discriminatory affinity group programming, which is open only to black male teachers.
“PDE and its members oppose racial discrimination and political indoctrination in America’s schools. Middletown City School District is offering educational and affinity group programming for Black male employees that are not offered to all employees in the District,” reads the complaint from PDE, first obtained by The Daily Wire.
The complaint comes as school districts across the country have adopted controversial diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that often discriminate against individuals on the basis of their race and sex in attempts to diversify the staff or faculty of a given institution.
&#8220;Schools should be focused on making training and resources available to ALL teachers, not arbitrarily excluding teachers and staff based on race,” Michele Exner, Senior Advisor for Parents Defending Education, told The Daily Wire. “This is a blatant violation of employment laws and it’s why we are calling for an investigation into this program. Students and teachers deserve better than a system that chooses divisiveness over results.&#8221;
The complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission points specifically to the district’s <a href="https://www.middletowncityschools.com/middletown-middle-school-news/entry/the-admiral-squad/">Admiral Squad</a>, a race and sex-based affinity group program that seeks to “address the shortage of Black males in education” and aims “to hire 25 Black male classroom teachers.”
“As the Commission is aware, ‘the important purpose of Title VII’ is ‘that the workplace be an environment free of discrimination, where race is not a barrier to opportunity,’” PDE writes in its complaint.
The complaint goes on to explain that the hiring and retention model proposed by the district also includes a number of race-based goals, such as securing a “50% increase in the number of Black male educators from 32 to 52,” “developing a diverse pipeline,” and offering a “fellowship for Black and Brown candidate student members.” The district also intends to “work with He is Me Institute, which offers a fellowship to support Black males in high school and college who are interested in becoming teachers.”
“The District has even committed to working with nearby universities to target, hire, and retain Black male classroom educators,” it adds, detailing the extent of the district’s race and sex-based recruiting and hiring operation.
A representative of the school district contended that the Admiral Squad program is compliant with federal employment law in a comment to The Daily Wire, also adding that &#8220;while the Admiral Squad is an affinity group for Black male educators, nothing is stopping a Middletown City School District educator of any other race or sex from being part of the group.&#8221;
The district representative also added that the Admiral Squad is “used as a retention and recruitment tool for current Middletown City School District educators” and “was created as a result of the fact that less than 2% of the teaching population nationwide are Black males.”
The Middletown City School District is hardly the only district that appears to be engaging in race-based discrimination, however. PDE also filed a federal complaint against Minnesota’s Rochester Public Schools after the district allegedly used funds to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minnesota-school-district-hit-with-federal-complaint-over-race-based-discrimination">support affinity group programs</a> and professional development initiatives that discriminated against white employees.
The district also boasted the “Grow Your Own” program, which intended to “increase and support the number of educators of color in our district.” The initiative’s description went on to add that the program “will support teachers/individuals of color who want to pursue a career in teaching.”
There’s also California’s La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District, which PDE hit with a federal complaint after discovering that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-school-district-hit-with-calls-for-investigation-into-racial-discrimination">district set out</a> to “achieve an increase in diversity” for new hires.
One district document outlined “strategies to encourage diverse candidates,” with another detailing the district’s goal of achieving “an increase in the diversity of the workforce in at least 75% of new hires.”

High school classroom

EXCLUSIVE: Ohio School District Hit With Federal Complaint Over Discriminatory Hiring Program

K-12

“DEI isn’t actually dead,” proclaimed a recent CNN headline, in a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/17/business/dei-isnt-actually-dead/index.html">piece</a> by consumer reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn that somehow managed to be both condescending and ignorant at the same time. CNN would like you to believe corporate diversity isn’t really going anywhere, just changing its external terminology from the oft-maligned term “DEI” to more nebulous terms like “belonging” and “inclusivity,” while maintaining all of its internal elements.
Personally, I both love and hate this piece and the viewpoint it belies. I love that CNN actually believes the DEI skeptic coalition — made up of many serious investors, dedicated state fiduciaries, and corporate engagement professionals — is naive enough to just go away because companies changed the names of their diversity departments. But I also hate that CNN’s dream scenario might actually happen. Let me explain.
The ball’s rolling. This year was a major step towards undoing the damage done by discriminatory diversity initiatives and rejecting the radicalism of much of modern &#8220;anti-racism.&#8221; And it&#8217;s not even just Trump’s victory (although America’s rejection of Kamala Harris is a lesson DEI advocates seem unwilling to learn). Thanks to the efforts of conservative activists like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walmart-caves-massive-retailer-the-next-woke-domino-to-fall-under-pressure-from-robby-starbuck" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robby Starbuck</a>, there is a growing list of companies walking back, slashing, or in some cases altogether removing their DEI initiatives.
There&#8217;s also the ever-growing wave of scrutiny on the discriminatory elements of DEI coming from <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/adf-calls-corporations-ditch-dei-policies-light-2024-election/">legal groups</a> like Alliance Defending Freedom, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-state-treasurers-investors-urge-major-companies-to-drop-discriminatory-dei-agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial officers</a> in red states, and of course the shareholders we represent every day in the corporate engagement world.
The halls of American academia are following suit, with campuses like the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/05/university-of-michigan-dei-cut" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Michigan</a> and <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/diversity/race-ethnicity/2024/07/31/u-missouri-axes-dei-office-pre-empt-state-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mizzou</a> overhauling their DEI initiatives. Even whole states like Idaho are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/idaho-board-education-bans-dei-offices-initiatives-all-public-universities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking steps</a> to stamp DEI out of publicly-funded institutions. And that’s not even considering the broader social pushback against the racialism that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-fate-of-the-racially-furious" target="_blank" rel="noopener">infected</a> American society post-George Floyd, from the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3148007/am-i-racist-fighting-the-culture-war-with-a-smile/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">success</a> of documentaries like Matt Walsh&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Am I Racist?</a>&#8220; to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/12/opinion/daniel-penny-jordan-neely-subway-killing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rejection</a> of the race narratives surrounding high-visibility court cases like Daniel Penny.
That’s the roadmap. And it’s easy to think the momentum of the battle against DEI’s problematic elements is all downhill from here. In reality, these are just the first steps, albeit crucial ones. The next steps? Keep walking the road. This is a labor that will take years — and losing momentum is the one thing we cannot afford. In fact, losing momentum is what the Left and the advocates of DEI’s most pernicious elements are counting on us to do. Seems unimaginable given the groundswell of anti-DEI, anti-ESG, and generally anti-woke sentiment that’s sprung up post-November. Give it time.
Post-inauguration, when life returns to normal, we have to keep at the task of rooting out the discriminatory and divisive ideology that so often permeates DEI programs. The staying force of the Left is tremendous. But we’re not just in a battle against the forces of the Left. We’re in a battle against the force of institutional inertia. If we stop, we lose. We must keep pushing. If you work for or own shares in a company with DEI programs, keep pushing for answers. If you’re at a college with a DEI program, keep pushing for answers. If we do these things, and don’t give up, 2025 can be America’s best year yet on rejecting the discrimination and divisiveness so many DEI programs promulgate.
* * *
Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work has been featured at outlets including USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Opinion, C-SPAN and the Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program and can be found on X <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Menu