Republicans are pushing to end the remaining school desegregation orders mandated after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, and many were puzzled by the New York Times' framing of its report on the issue.
More than 300 desegregation orders remain on the books from the 1960s and 1970s, when federal courts were given supervision over school districts that refused to integrate, and Republicans have found allies in the Trump administration to roll back federal orders they say are outdated and no longer necessary, as the Times reported.
“I don’t think it serves the interest of justice to have ancient consent decrees out there,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general over civil rights under president Donald Trump. “It is 2025. I haven’t heard a recent claim that there is government mandated segregation happening in 2025 in a school district. If it’s happening, it’s wrong.”
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The Supreme Court has said the orders were meant to be temporary, and many have been lifted over the years after demonstrating efforts to desegregate, but civil rights advocates fear the effort is part of a broader pattern of attacks on Black students under the Trump administration.
“You have an administration that denies the past and wants to tell a singular story about America and this country that erases this racial inequality,” said Janel George, an associate law professor at Georgetown University.
Critics were puzzled by the Times' headline – "Some Republicans Push to Put School Desegregation Officially in the Past" – and framing of the topic, and even one of its own columnists chastised the newspaper's coverage.
"The effort to erase Brown v. Board and return to Jim Crow America is treated with such calm in the #BrokenTimes," posted journalist Jeff Jarvis. "Where is the alarm?"
"What is 'Desegregation Officially in the Past' mean?" replied Bluesky user Walter IV. "Is just calling it 'Republicans push segregation' [libel] or something?"
"[For f---'s sake], can't we at least get a good headline on segregation?" added civil rights attorney Joshua Erlich.
"One of the more frustrating things about the way many think about racism is that unless someone uses slurs, mainstream outlets and some academics give the benefit of the doubt," said sociologist Victor Ray, of the University of Iowa. "You can resegregate schools, lie and claim that it’s about 'markets' or 'choice,' and get invites in polite society."
"They agree with the resegregation and don't want to feel bad about it," replied Times columnist Jamelle Bouie.
"Nearly two decades (and a lifetime) ago I taught third grade in a school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that was 99 percent African American. I just looked up the school, and it is 99 percent African American today," posted political scientist Emily Farris. "White parents have pushed for years there for their own breakaway school districts."
