Is Trump Forcing Education Into a New Dark Age? – Cloaking Inequity

On Sunday, April 20 at 7 PM EST, I’ll be joining Leonie Haimson on WBAI 99.5 FM’s Talk Out of School to discuss one of the most urgent questions facing American public education today:

Is Trump forcing education into a new Dark Age?

That’s not just a rhetorical question. It’s a serious inquiry into the political and ideological project underway—a project that threatens to roll back decades of civil rights protections, gut diversity initiatives, and silence critical perspectives in our classrooms.

What We’ll Discuss

On air, I’ll be unpacking the Trump administration’s renewed push to:

• Eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools and higher education
• Force institutions to align teaching with political ideology—or risk losing billions in federal funding
• Suppress student and faculty dissent, especially around issues like Israel/Palestine, race, gender, and U.S. history

This isn’t speculation. It’s already happening.

From the Department of Education’s coercive “Dear Colleague” letter to mass book bans, anti-protest laws, and attacks on academic freedom, we’re witnessing a coordinated campaign to dismantle the public education infrastructure that undergirds a functioning democracy.

Education or Indoctrination?

When politicians demand that schools teach only one version of history—or strip away any policy that acknowledges racial or gender inequity—we’re no longer talking about education. We’re talking about indoctrination.

The Trump-led movement to eliminate DEI isn’t about protecting students. It’s about consolidating power. It’s about targeting those who challenge the status quo. It’s about creating fear in classrooms instead of freedom.

That’s why I’ve called this moment a potential “Dark Age” for American education.

Why This Matters to All of Us

What happens in schools doesn’t stay in schools. Education is the training ground for democracy. If we allow truth to be censored and justice to be sidelined in our curriculum, we’re paving the way for authoritarianism—one sanitized textbook at a time.

That’s why organizations like the NAACP, where I serve as Chair of the National Education Taskforce, are mobilizing in response. We’re seeing students, educators, and families rise up across the country to demand transparency, inclusion, and academic freedom.

This Sunday’s Talk Out of School episode is part of that growing resistance.

Tune In and Join the Conversation

🗓️ Sunday, April 20
⏰ 7 PM EST
📻 WBAI 99.5 FM in NYC
🌐 Stream live at WBAI.org

We’ll be discussing what’s really at stake when education becomes the battleground for political extremism—and what we must do to protect our students, our schools, and our democracy.

Because the truth is: this is not just an education issue. It’s a civil rights issue. It’s a justice issue. It’s a freedom issue.

I hope you’ll tune in.

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