Legal Defense Fund sues Department of Ed over DEI defunding move

The big picture: The lawsuit comes at the Trump administration is using a broad reinterpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.

• It also follows some recent embarrassing missteps by agencies erasing — then restoring — websites dedicated to Black historic figures like Jackie Robinson and Harriet Tubman amid a massive DEI purge.
• President Trump's executive order ending federal DEI initiatives has caused confusion and several legal challenges across multiple agencies.

Catch up quick: Earlier this month, the Department of Education sent letters to state K-12 agencies requiring them to comply with the Trump administration's anti-diversity policies to maintain their federal funding.

• State officials were given a certification form, due within 10 days, to vouch that their policies aligned with federal directives against DEI practices.
• In February, the Department of Education warned academic institutions in a "Dear Colleague" letter that it may cut federal funding for those with policies related to race or diversity.

Zoom in: The LDF said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. that the moves will "chill lawful activities known to benefit Black students" and eliminate obstacles that unfairly hurt Black students.

• The lawsuit said the Department of Education's demands contained factual inaccuracies and misinterpretations of civil rights laws and threatened to terminate critical public education.
• The lawsuit also alleged that the department was intentionally discriminating against Black students through its efforts to defund federal grantees based on erroneous facts and interpretations of law.
• It names the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor.
• The lawsuit seeks to stop the department from enforcing its threats to pull federal funding from schools that maintain their DEI programs and keep books on Black history.

A Department of Education spokesperson did not immediately respond to Axios about the lawsuit.

What they're saying: "These threats seek to undo decades of progress towards equality for all in public education," Katrina Feldkamp, assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, said in a statement.

• "The current administration's attacks are a threat to longstanding efforts to ensure truthful, inclusive curricula and instruction."

Context: U.S. public schools are growing more separate and unequal even though the country is more racially and ethnically diverse than ever.

• Federal data examined by the UCLA Civil Rights Project and the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University tool reviewed by Axios found that in the years after Gen X left public schools, the districts began to resegregate and today have returned to 1960s segregation levels.
• The typical Black student in 1990 attended a school with a student population that was 34.7% white. By 2021, the average Black student went to a school that was only 24.5% white.
• In 1988, only around 7.4% of schools were intensely segregated, which means students of color represented more than 90% of their student bodies. By 2021, the percentage of intensely segregated schools skyrocketed to nearly 20%.

Between the lines: Educators and advocates have argued that diversity and racial equity programs help keep Black, Latino and Native American students engaged and assist with graduation rates.