The DEI school lawsuits in New Hampshire and elsewhere
I was surprised to see this news today:
Arguments begin Thursday in a New Hampshire court case involving President Donald Trump’s demand that schools end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools or risk losing federal funding.
The New Hampshire case is one of several lawsuits contesting the administration’s demands and seeking to determine if the federal government can withhold billions of federal dollars for schools to educate low-income students.
The National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing the administration, accusing it of violating congressional regulations that say federal agencies cannot dictate matters of local instruction, The New York Times reported.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not the least bit surprised that Trump’s directive is being challenged in court. After all, everything Trump does is being challenged in court. The courtroom is a tried-and-true way for the left to get its way when it can’t pass a law in Congress and/or when the presidency is held by the other party. Just find a leftist judge and hope that either SCOTUS refuses to hear it, or SCOTUS agrees. And DEI in grade schools is one of the main ways the left hopes to continue to indoctrinate the youth of the US in the preferred type of racism.
But why New Hampshire? That isn’t the usual venue for these cases; it’s basically a purple state. Perhaps it’s merely the lawsuit occurring today, because the article also says the case is one of “several” similar ones, and I have little doubt that in a blue state (or if the judge is leftist, even in New Hampshire) the court will rule against Trump’s order and the case will be appealed. And indeed, later in the article it says the states suing on this issue are “mostly blue.”
I see also that one New Hampshire district that appears to be involved is Hanover, home to Dartmouth and one of the most blue areas of the state. You can see from this chart that the county in which Hanover is located, Grafton, was the part of New Hampshire in which Kamala Harris got the highest percentage of the vote in 2024, 59%.
Here’s the statement on the case from the Hanover official:
“The U.S. Department of Education’s unclear ban on DEI undercuts our ability to adequately meet the needs of our students and overrides our communities’ decision to uphold these values in our public schools,” said Jay Badams, superintendent for New Hampshire’s Hanover and Dresden schools, NHPR reported.
But are there no limits to what local communities can teach and what values it decides to “uphold”? The original civil rights cases that involved the schools established that the federal government had a say in the matter when localities were practicing anti-black racism. Now that anti-white racism may be involved, the shoe is apparently on the other foot.
From the Times article:
The Trump administration has set out its case in a series of executive orders and memos. It believes that when schools allow transgender students to play on the sports teams or use the bathrooms of their choice, they are violating the rights of girls under Title IX. And it believes that D.E.I. programs violate the Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination based on race, color or national origin.
The administration has not offered a detailed definition of D.E.I. But it has argued that programs that separate students by race in order to provide targeted support are a form of illegal segregation. …
The Trump administration has also argued that teaching about concepts like white privilege is discriminatory toward white students.
That seem quite obvious to me.
I thought the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was pretty clear; as are the goals of DEI.
Federal District court for NH has 3 active appointees. One from Obama, One from Biden and one from Bush the Younger. So if it goes to a panel we know who wins and if it goes to a single judge, it is a 66% chance of a win. If it gets appealed, it goes to 1st Circuit which is not as liberal as say Washington or the 9th Circuit, but it is AWFUL close. Seems like decent judge shopping, though you’d have done as well or better in Massachusetts district (and appeals go to 1st Circuit too).
I have not heard, but would expect Colorado to do the same. The head of the CO Education Board has already said that CO would not comply with Trump admin orders.
Why New Hampshire, a purple state?
Perhaps because it is a purple state. For example, the Dems and leftists salivate over the prospect of turning Texas blue. I’ve heard Houston and Dallas are already there, so just add another million illegal immigrants who want free stuff from the government and maybe that will do the trick. After all, the Dems real objective is the complete absence of democracy. Machine politics and one party rule.
If the judgement goes in favor of the “anti-racist” racists, is there anything to prevent an appeal from going all the way up to SCOTUS?
Barry Meislin
“ is there anything to prevent an appeal from going all the way up to SCOTUS?”
Roberts and Barrett? These two are DEI hires and they know it.
We dont call him dread pirate roberts for nothing
Barrett has proved a dissapointment in many instances
Of dei i go by potter stewarts maxim i know it
when i see it
DEI = another way of saying racial and gender quotas. It’s always the left’s intent to use language to confuse and mislead people. DEI sounds so much more elegant and fair than racial/gender quotas.
Unfortunately, there are many voters who are misled by this sleight of hand. The lefty instigators know exactly what they’re doing. And they’re using the court system to shut up any dissent.
Ahh, Dartmouth and Hanover, NH, where sheep may safely graze.
TommyJay said
“Why New Hampshire, a purple state?”
Simple Answer, it is wedged between Massachusetts (very Blue) Maine (Blue near the heavy population red elsewhere so blue purple) and Vermont (Blue due to hippie history and wealthy NY/MA transplants). With its no income/Sales tax NH is a mecca for the locals. But when they come they keep their poltics.
More complex Answer: A combination of Demographics and voting rules. Most of the population is in Nashua and Manchester, and there is a large population where UNH is in Durham. This tends to be balanced by upstate that is mor conservative, but downstate has a slight population advantage. Add to that the legislature foolishly enacted same day registration (likely when there was a Dem preponderance in the near past). This means that Places like Durham (UNH) and Hanover (Dartmouth) tend to vote strongly blue with large numbers of college attendees. There are also rumors that some unscrupulous Mass voters have crossed the border registered at their summer homes and voted there. Not sure if this enough but it does dilute some of the upstate votes.
New Hampshire is much like Camelot, it’s a silly place let’s not go there…
Most of the population is in Nashua and Manchester,
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It isn’t. About 1/3 of the population lives in Hillsborough County; the densely settled areas around Manchester and Nashua account for about 1/2 of the county’s population.
Roberts and Barrett? These two are DEI hires and they know it.
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Neither is a DEI hire.