On June 4, we witnessed another brazen example of the sinister and ill-informed attempt by the Trump administration to whitewash and rewrite American history. During a Congressional hearing by the House Committee on Education and Labor concerning the agency’s budget and priorities, Secretary of the Department of Education Linda McMahon, former WWE wrestling mogul, was asked what is or isn’t appropriate to teach in public schools. Her lack of knowledge about certain aspects of American History is either breathtakingly ignorant or a maligned effort at deception.
It is a well-known and openly stated fact that this administration is attempting to dismantle the Department of Education, a Cabinet-level agency created by Congress in 1979. While an executive order can accomplish certain things, overriding a law passed by Congress is not one of them, which has been affirmed by federal courts over 180 times since Jan. 20.
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., asked McMahon what African American Studies would be considered in violation of Trump’s executive order banning certain teachings, particularly Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. When asked specifically if a lesson on the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, when a white mob murdered hundreds and burned down homes and businesses in a Black neighborhood, would be an illegal DEI lesson, McMahon’s reply was “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
Granted, McMahon does have a bachelor’s degree in French from East Carolina University (1969), but in the late ’60s, most of us were not taught about the Tulsa Race Massacre. We also hadn’t heard much about the Stonewall Riots, the My Lai Massacre or Nixon’s illegal, treasonous negotiations with the North Vietnamese before his 1968 election.
We were being taught a mostly whitewashed and patriotic version of American history in public schools and colleges. In the South, lessons were also sculpted around The War of Northern Aggression (the Civil War). Fortunately, our school system has progressed enough that we are far more truthful and thorough, and DEI programs enrich education.
When Lee asked McMahon if she knew what the Tulsa Race Massacre was, she again replied, “I’d like to look into it more and get back to you on it.” McMahon was similarly unclear whether “Through My Eyes,” by Ruby Bridges, would also be illegal DEI material. For those who may have forgotten, in 1960, Bridges, at the time a 6-year-old child, was the first African American to attend a formerly whites-only elementary school in New Orleans.
This action came after the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954, the year Bridges was born. I, for one, will forever remember the picture of her on that first day at school, nattily dressed in her crinoline skirt, Mary Jane shoes with white crews, a bow in her hair, a sweater over her shoulders and her little satchel for schoolwork in her right hand, while being escorted by six U.S. Marshals. These Marshals, by the way, were in suits and ties, had their badges prominently displayed and wore an armband of authority. None were masked to hide their identity.
So now we have an increasingly clear picture of an administration asserting its power to try to rewrite history that is obviously racist and white-supremacist oriented. Using clearly illegal and unconstitutional means, this administration is slowly but surely following the Project 2025 playbook, attempting to control knowledge, colleges, universities and public schools.
These steps are clearly taken to usurp all power from our other two branches of government in order to consolidate all power with the executive, our Dear Leader. As Trump himself famously stated after winning the Nevada Republican primary in 2016, “I love poorly educated people!”
Gene Orr, M.Ed., is a retired educator with 43 years of experience teaching social studies and history in middle school, high school and college in Durango. He lives in Kline.
