PLEASE NOTE: What follows below is the Trump Administration's despicably insidious and brazenly racist scheme to return to the ‘separate but equal doctrine’ in education that was in formal effect from the end of the Reconstruction era in 1876 until 1954 when the Supreme Court determined that racially segregated ‘Jim Crow’ educational policy was unlawful and unconstitutional in the famous Brown v. Board of education case in Topeka Kansas. The ‘bait and switch’ maneuver here in redirecting funds slated for blacks and other minority students in STEM programs in integrated and transferring them to HBCUs and Charter Schools is clearly designed to establish a nakedly ‘divide-and-conquer’ policy by making it falsely appear that the government ‘supports’ higher education for Black and Latino American students while at the very same time using these now diverted/eliminated funds from other mainstream colleges and universities to fund institutions that were specifically created for black and other minority students because traditionally so-called ‘white’ institutions openly discriminated against them by opposing their admission on the basis of race. In the meantime Trump’s Department of Education head Linda McMahon is working tirelessly to eliminate the Department of Education altogether and forever at Trump’s and MAGA’s command…]
“The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would inject nearly $500 million into historically Black colleges and tribal universities, a windfall funded largely by cuts to programs elsewhere for minority students.
The administration will also redirect money to other political priorities for President Trump, including an extra $137 million for American history and civics education and $60 million more for charter schools.
The increases follow a White House request for a 15 percent budget cut to the Education Department next year, as President Trump seeks support to permanently shutter the agency. History programs will now receive about seven times their expected funding for this year, and charter schools will see a 13 percent increase.
To pay for the changes, the administration cut money from other parts of the education budget The details of the changes were described by three people familiar with the department’s plans who insisted on anonymity to speak about private discussions.
The biggest cut, announced by the department last week, is a $350 million hit to programs that support minority students in science and engineering programs, schools with significant Hispanic enrollment, and other federal grants at minority-serving institutions.
The administration also cut money from gifted and talented programs, which it said use racial targeting in recruitment in some cases, and from magnet schools, which have been used as a tool for combating school segregation.
In a statement announcing the new funding for Mr. Trump’s political priorities, the secretary of education, Linda McMahon, said that the department was “redirecting financial support away from ineffective and discriminatory programs toward those which support student success.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/us/hbcus-trump-administration-funding.html
Trump Redirects Millions to Historically Black Colleges, Charter Schools
The Trump administration is cutting money from programs that have supported minority students, including at other universities.
Listen to this article · 8:19 minutes
Learn more
The
Trump administration’s plan would divert money from other education
programs to historically Black colleges and universities, like Howard.
Credit: Maansi Srivastava for The New York Times
by Sarah Mervosh and Michael C. Bender
September 15, 2025
New York Times
The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would inject nearly $500 million into historically Black colleges and tribal universities, a windfall funded largely by cuts to programs elsewhere for minority students.
The administration will also redirect money to other political priorities for President Trump, including an extra $137 million for American history and civics education and $60 million more for charter schools.
The increases follow a White House request for a 15 percent budget cut to the Education Department next year, as President Trump seeks support to permanently shutter the agency. History programs will now receive about seven times their expected funding for this year, and charter schools will see a 13 percent increase.
To pay for the changes, the administration cut money from other parts of the education budget The details of the changes were described by three people familiar with the department’s plans who insisted on anonymity to speak about private discussions.
The biggest cut, announced by the department last week, is a $350 million hit to programs that support minority students in science and engineering programs, schools with significant Hispanic enrollment, and other federal grants at minority-serving institutions.
The administration also cut money from gifted and talented programs, which it said use racial targeting in recruitment in some cases, and from magnet schools, which have been used as a tool for combating school segregation.
In a statement announcing the new funding for Mr. Trump’s political priorities, the secretary of education, Linda McMahon, said that the department was “redirecting financial support away from ineffective and discriminatory programs toward those which support student success.”
Sign up for the Race/Related Newsletter Join a deep and provocative exploration of race, identity and society with New York Times journalists. Get it sent to your inbox.
President Trump has routinely sought to align himself with historically Black colleges and universities as a way to earn good will from Black voters, who have long been skeptical of his leadership.
In his first term, Mr. Trump secured more than $250 million in annual funding and canceled repayment of more than $300 million in federal relief loans for the schools. In April, he signed an executive order that created a job in the White House to oversee a new “Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” although that position remains unfilled.
At the same time, the president has repeatedly minimized the history of Black people in the United States, including last month when he complained that the Smithsonian museums focus too much on “how bad slavery was.”
Traditionally, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has focused a major part of its legal workload on complaints of racial discrimination. Under the Trump administration, the office has prioritized accusations of discrimination against white students and pared back protections for transgender students. New discipline guidance from the White House instructs schools not to consider racial disparities, focusing solely on the behavior of students.
The halt of $350 million in federal funding last week targeted seven grants for minority-serving institutions, which are colleges with significant minority student enrollment. The Trump administration eliminated the funding, saying that programs with racial quotas were inherently racist and violated civil rights law.
Instead, that money will be put toward historically Black colleges and universities, which were created to educate Black students at a time when other colleges would not serve them, and are open to students of all races. These institutions will receive $1.34 billion this year, 48 percent more than was budgeted, according to the department.
Lodriguez Murray, a senior vice president at UNCF, previously the United Negro College Fund, said the extra money is a “godsend” for H.B.C.U.s. They have been underfunded since their inception, he said, and about 70 percent of their students come from low-income families.
“We welcome the additional resources,” he said, adding that he believed the money could be substantial enough to make a difference on campuses, even if it is a one-time boost.
Marybeth Gasman, the executive director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions, said that new spending should not come at the expense of programs aimed at supporting Black and Hispanic students at other schools. She said minority-serving institutions educate more than half of all students of color, and she urged Congress to push back against the executive branch’s unilateral attempt to allocate money.
“None of these institutions should be pitted against each other, which seems to be what the Trump administration is doing,” said Ms. Gasman, the associate dean for research in the Rutgers Graduate School of Education.
Tribal colleges, which are typically controlled and operated by Native American tribes and receive federal support, will also get about $108 million this year, double their expected allotment from the Education Department, federal officials said.
Tribal colleges also receive money through the Department of the Interior, funding that the Trump administration had proposed cutting earlier this year, though lawmakers on Capitol Hill have resisted.
The Education Department is muscling the money into Mr. Trump’s agenda, with two weeks to go before the fiscal year expires on Sept. 30, taking advantage of what is essentially a loophole created by the ongoing partisan standoff in Washington. The changes are a one-time infusion and apply only to this year’s funding.
The money for history and civics education will go to a pet project of Mr. Trump, who bemoaned on the campaign trail last year what he viewed in American schools as a lack of national pride. He vowed to find a way to “certify teachers who embrace patriotic values, support our way of life.”
As president, he has threatened to strip funding from schools that stray from themes of “patriotic education.” Now, the federal government will spend $160 million on American history and civics education this year, up from $23 million that Congress had authorized.
The money will pay for teachers’ training ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding next year. The program will put an emphasis on primary documents from the era of the founding fathers, an idea popular in conservative circles.
The money will primarily come from a nearly $140 million cut to teacher training programs that federal officials say were promoting racially “divisive ideology” in the classroom.
Charter schools have also long been a key piece of Mr. Trump’s education policy, which emphasizes giving parents more choice.
The first official school visit by Linda McMahon, the education secretary, was to Vertex Partnership Academies, a charter school in the Bronx. Mr. Trump is also seeking an increase for charter schools through his budget request for next year.
Charters — publicly funded but privately run schools — will have $500 million to spend this year, up from the $440 million that federal lawmakers had approved.
To pay for the new money for charter schools, the administration cut $15 million from magnet schools, $9 million from gifted and talented programs, and $31 million from Ready to Learn, which funded PBS shows for young children.
Congress typically controls how federal money is spent. But without enough support to approve an annual spending bill, Congress has instead relied on stopgap measures to keep the government open. These temporary measures ensure that funding levels are maintained at existing levels but, unlike regular spending bills, do not specify how that money should be spent.
Many Democrats opposed the most recent stopgap measure in March, warning that the lack of explicit directions would essentially create slush funds for the White House.
Now, six months later, the administration is seizing the moment, using flexibility allowed by the stopgap to redirect money toward Mr. Trump’s priorities.
Sarah Mervosh covers education for The Times, focusing on K-12 schools.
Michael C. Bender is a Times correspondent in Washington.
See more on: Education Department (US), Donald Trump
COMMENTS SECTION
New York Times
J
Joe.Gould
LES3h ago
Taking money from minority students at non-HBCU institutions of higher education & giving it to them if they are enrolled at an HBCU institution looks like an effort to segregate minority students….
Jean commented 3 hours ago
Jean
Holland, OH
3h ago
Baffling & convoluted mix of contradictions.
JN commented 3 hours ago
J
JN
NY3h ago
It looks like a Trojan Horse.
Blue Witch commented 3 hours ago
B
Blue Witch
Washington State3h ago
I applaud any extra funding for universities and colleges that primarily serve Black people and Native Americans. But since the money was clawed away from programs supporting minority students at institutions catering to a mixed student body, this looks suspiciously like the re-segregation of higher ed. And I find that thought deeply disquieting.
JB commented 3 hours ago
J
JB
Walnut Creek3h ago
It would seem that the award of funds to programs whose admission criteria is primarily or solely based on race is prima facie illegal discrimination and should never been instituted. The linked article specifically said that there would be no more of this but rather repurposing the funds to equivalent programs aimed at needs based criteria.
Paul-A commented 3 hours ago
P
Paul-A
St. Lawrence, NY3h ago
I'm confused by this action, because it seems to run against Trump's life-long track record of disdain for Black people. And are HBCU allowed to teach the truths about slavery (which Trump has outlawed)?
1 Reply
Ellen commented 3 hours ago
E
Ellen
Or3h ago
@Paul-A it’s a bait and switch. He gives a little more money to Black schools while funneling the bulk of the money to ultra right Christian charter schools. Bet Catholic schools also make out like bandits (Supreme Court buttering up)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/opinion/charlie-kirk-ezra-klein-politics.html
Opinion
letters
by Sarah Mervosh and Michael C. Bender
September 15, 2025
New York Times
The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would inject nearly $500 million into historically Black colleges and tribal universities, a windfall funded largely by cuts to programs elsewhere for minority students.
The administration will also redirect money to other political priorities for President Trump, including an extra $137 million for American history and civics education and $60 million more for charter schools.
The increases follow a White House request for a 15 percent budget cut to the Education Department next year, as President Trump seeks support to permanently shutter the agency. History programs will now receive about seven times their expected funding for this year, and charter schools will see a 13 percent increase.
To pay for the changes, the administration cut money from other parts of the education budget The details of the changes were described by three people familiar with the department’s plans who insisted on anonymity to speak about private discussions.
The biggest cut, announced by the department last week, is a $350 million hit to programs that support minority students in science and engineering programs, schools with significant Hispanic enrollment, and other federal grants at minority-serving institutions.
The administration also cut money from gifted and talented programs, which it said use racial targeting in recruitment in some cases, and from magnet schools, which have been used as a tool for combating school segregation.
In a statement announcing the new funding for Mr. Trump’s political priorities, the secretary of education, Linda McMahon, said that the department was “redirecting financial support away from ineffective and discriminatory programs toward those which support student success.”
Sign up for the Race/Related Newsletter Join a deep and provocative exploration of race, identity and society with New York Times journalists. Get it sent to your inbox.
President Trump has routinely sought to align himself with historically Black colleges and universities as a way to earn good will from Black voters, who have long been skeptical of his leadership.
In his first term, Mr. Trump secured more than $250 million in annual funding and canceled repayment of more than $300 million in federal relief loans for the schools. In April, he signed an executive order that created a job in the White House to oversee a new “Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” although that position remains unfilled.
At the same time, the president has repeatedly minimized the history of Black people in the United States, including last month when he complained that the Smithsonian museums focus too much on “how bad slavery was.”
Traditionally, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has focused a major part of its legal workload on complaints of racial discrimination. Under the Trump administration, the office has prioritized accusations of discrimination against white students and pared back protections for transgender students. New discipline guidance from the White House instructs schools not to consider racial disparities, focusing solely on the behavior of students.
The halt of $350 million in federal funding last week targeted seven grants for minority-serving institutions, which are colleges with significant minority student enrollment. The Trump administration eliminated the funding, saying that programs with racial quotas were inherently racist and violated civil rights law.
Instead, that money will be put toward historically Black colleges and universities, which were created to educate Black students at a time when other colleges would not serve them, and are open to students of all races. These institutions will receive $1.34 billion this year, 48 percent more than was budgeted, according to the department.
Lodriguez Murray, a senior vice president at UNCF, previously the United Negro College Fund, said the extra money is a “godsend” for H.B.C.U.s. They have been underfunded since their inception, he said, and about 70 percent of their students come from low-income families.
“We welcome the additional resources,” he said, adding that he believed the money could be substantial enough to make a difference on campuses, even if it is a one-time boost.
Marybeth Gasman, the executive director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions, said that new spending should not come at the expense of programs aimed at supporting Black and Hispanic students at other schools. She said minority-serving institutions educate more than half of all students of color, and she urged Congress to push back against the executive branch’s unilateral attempt to allocate money.
“None of these institutions should be pitted against each other, which seems to be what the Trump administration is doing,” said Ms. Gasman, the associate dean for research in the Rutgers Graduate School of Education.
Tribal colleges, which are typically controlled and operated by Native American tribes and receive federal support, will also get about $108 million this year, double their expected allotment from the Education Department, federal officials said.
Tribal colleges also receive money through the Department of the Interior, funding that the Trump administration had proposed cutting earlier this year, though lawmakers on Capitol Hill have resisted.
The Education Department is muscling the money into Mr. Trump’s agenda, with two weeks to go before the fiscal year expires on Sept. 30, taking advantage of what is essentially a loophole created by the ongoing partisan standoff in Washington. The changes are a one-time infusion and apply only to this year’s funding.
The money for history and civics education will go to a pet project of Mr. Trump, who bemoaned on the campaign trail last year what he viewed in American schools as a lack of national pride. He vowed to find a way to “certify teachers who embrace patriotic values, support our way of life.”
As president, he has threatened to strip funding from schools that stray from themes of “patriotic education.” Now, the federal government will spend $160 million on American history and civics education this year, up from $23 million that Congress had authorized.
The money will pay for teachers’ training ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding next year. The program will put an emphasis on primary documents from the era of the founding fathers, an idea popular in conservative circles.
The money will primarily come from a nearly $140 million cut to teacher training programs that federal officials say were promoting racially “divisive ideology” in the classroom.
Charter schools have also long been a key piece of Mr. Trump’s education policy, which emphasizes giving parents more choice.
The first official school visit by Linda McMahon, the education secretary, was to Vertex Partnership Academies, a charter school in the Bronx. Mr. Trump is also seeking an increase for charter schools through his budget request for next year.
Charters — publicly funded but privately run schools — will have $500 million to spend this year, up from the $440 million that federal lawmakers had approved.
To pay for the new money for charter schools, the administration cut $15 million from magnet schools, $9 million from gifted and talented programs, and $31 million from Ready to Learn, which funded PBS shows for young children.
Congress typically controls how federal money is spent. But without enough support to approve an annual spending bill, Congress has instead relied on stopgap measures to keep the government open. These temporary measures ensure that funding levels are maintained at existing levels but, unlike regular spending bills, do not specify how that money should be spent.
Many Democrats opposed the most recent stopgap measure in March, warning that the lack of explicit directions would essentially create slush funds for the White House.
Now, six months later, the administration is seizing the moment, using flexibility allowed by the stopgap to redirect money toward Mr. Trump’s priorities.
Sarah Mervosh covers education for The Times, focusing on K-12 schools.
Michael C. Bender is a Times correspondent in Washington.
See more on: Education Department (US), Donald Trump
COMMENTS SECTION
New York Times
J
Joe.Gould
LES3h ago
Taking money from minority students at non-HBCU institutions of higher education & giving it to them if they are enrolled at an HBCU institution looks like an effort to segregate minority students….
Jean commented 3 hours ago
Jean
Holland, OH
3h ago
Baffling & convoluted mix of contradictions.
JN commented 3 hours ago
J
JN
NY3h ago
It looks like a Trojan Horse.
Blue Witch commented 3 hours ago
B
Blue Witch
Washington State3h ago
I applaud any extra funding for universities and colleges that primarily serve Black people and Native Americans. But since the money was clawed away from programs supporting minority students at institutions catering to a mixed student body, this looks suspiciously like the re-segregation of higher ed. And I find that thought deeply disquieting.
JB commented 3 hours ago
J
JB
Walnut Creek3h ago
It would seem that the award of funds to programs whose admission criteria is primarily or solely based on race is prima facie illegal discrimination and should never been instituted. The linked article specifically said that there would be no more of this but rather repurposing the funds to equivalent programs aimed at needs based criteria.
Paul-A commented 3 hours ago
P
Paul-A
St. Lawrence, NY3h ago
I'm confused by this action, because it seems to run against Trump's life-long track record of disdain for Black people. And are HBCU allowed to teach the truths about slavery (which Trump has outlawed)?
1 Reply
Ellen commented 3 hours ago
E
Ellen
Or3h ago
@Paul-A it’s a bait and switch. He gives a little more money to Black schools while funneling the bulk of the money to ultra right Christian charter schools. Bet Catholic schools also make out like bandits (Supreme Court buttering up)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/opinion/charlie-kirk-ezra-klein-politics.html
Opinion
letters
Charlie Kirk and the ‘Right Way’ to Practice Politics
September 15, 2025
New York Times
Credit: Cheney Orr/Reuters
To the Editor:
Re “Kirk Was Practicing Politics the Right Way,”
by Ezra Klein (column, Sept. 13):
Mr. Klein is wrong in his claims that Charlie Kirk practiced politics “in exactly the right way” and that he and Mr. Kirk were on the “same side of the continued possibility of American politics.”
Charlie Kirk dealt almost exclusively in bad-faith arguments, distorting facts and bringing up the irrelevant, often employing rhetorical tactics to verbally and emotionally dominate his opponent.
The “right way” to do politics is not to say horrid things for shock value, as Mr. Kirk was known to do.
Mr. Klein is also wrong to ignore the detrimental influence of Mr. Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, one that has employed “edgy” politics and demeaning tactics to attract legions of young people to its cause. In what world is this the “right way” to do politics?
No one deserves to be murdered. Nor does anyone deserve to be lionized for fomenting hatred toward others and seeking to dominate and humiliate his opponents.
Ethan Feingold
Chicago
To the Editor:
Ezra Klein argues that Charlie Kirk did politics the right way, regardless of his views. Mr. Klein thus separates political practice from its content. That is both unwise and dangerous.
Mr. Kirk was critical of civil rights. He was against L.G.B.T.Q. rights. He consistently vilified marginalized people. What does it mean to attack these groups in the “right” way?
Does open dialogue now render any speech a societal good? Speech should not be policed. True. But not all speech done freely is good for the country.
Mr. Klein’s focus on free speech done “right” rests on the false notion that maintaining civil discourse sufficiently prevents violence. But this ignores the violence latent in Mr. Kirk’s content.
Free speech can be used for good or ill. An effective exercise of that right does not ensure its benefit. Mr. Klein confuses the two. When used to harmful ends, it should never be lionized, regardless of its civility.
No one should be gunned down for their views. But Mr. Kirk’s death does not mark the loss of a society-advancing speaker.
Jed Forman
Des Moines
The writer is an assistant professor in Buddhist studies at Simpson College, Indianola.
To the Editor:
The organization Charlie Kirk founded, Turning Point USA, hosts a “Professor Watchlist.” I was placed on this list in 2022, when I was a writer of a guest essay in The Times’s Opinion section.
The list was Mr. Kirk’s attempt to intimidate college professors like me from speaking out publicly about the issues we care about. Its goal was to goad people to harass the professors on this list.
Mr. Kirk and his list did not intimidate me. It helps that I have tenure in the supportive environment of Smith College. But many of my colleagues hesitate to speak or write publicly because of the tactics used by Mr. Kirk and those he inspired. This list has led to doxxing, harassment and threats against many faculty members.
This is not “practicing politics the right way.”
Carrie N. Baker
Northampton, Mass.
The writer is a professor and the chair of the Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Smith College.
*[The following remarks are taken from the ‘Comments section’ of the NY Times following the publication of today’s article “Trump Redirects Millions to Historically Black Colleges, Charter Schools” by Sarah Mervosh and Michael C. Bender, September 15, 2025]
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/us/hbcus-trump-administration-funding.html
Comments 429
New York Times
T Nelson commented 3 hours ago
T
T Nelson
Maine3h ago
So, bring back “separate but equal “?
CrystalClear commented 3 hours ago
C
CrystalClear
US3h ago
Looks a lot like the Trump Administration is seeking to re-segregate higher ed again -- "separate but equal" comes to mind...
Patrick Henry commented 3 hours ago
P
Patrick Henry
Virginia3h ago
Is this the start of separate-but-equal?
Notsolongago commented 3 hours ago
N
Notsolongago
Miami, FL3h ago
I hope that this attempt at buying the votes of Black voters will not blind folks to the reality that the Republican party is a White racial identity party with administration officials (and by proxy people such as Charlie Kirk) that the Southern Poverty Law Center has demonstrated deploy white supremacist rhetoric, spread anti Black racist disinformation, and have been directly tracked to white supremacist networks. The BASE of the Republican party are White Christian nationalist southerners attending predominantly white churches, and espousing white neo-confederate ideology. Is this really what HBCUs would like to empower and support?
Tim Lynch commented 3 hours ago
T
Tim Lynch
Philadelphia, PA3h ago
The shell game continues.
Karen commented 3 hours ago
K
Karen
Southwest Virginia3h ago
Call me skeptical but what's the catch? You know there will be a catch. I'd bet the Trump regime will then say which history these colleges are allowed to teach. It'll be "you took our money, now teach what I tell you." I also see it as an attempt to "make" Blacks and Native Americans attend only their own colleges. Segregation basically.
Huh?
Ny3h ago
“…The Trump administration eliminated the funding, saying that programs with racial quotas were inherently racist and violated civil rights law…”
Mom on Hayward Fault commented 3 hours ago
M
Mom on Hayward Fault
Calif3h ago
How to fund “separate but equal.”
Paul from Oakland commented 3 hours ago
P
Paul from Oakland
SF Bay Area3h ago
This is a rather obvious effort at segregation: Financially support historical Black colleges by taking away the hundreds of millions that other universities have historically received to ensure diversity in their student bodies.
CR commented 3 hours ago
C
CR
CO3h ago
Separate but equal, of course.
Ernest commented 3 hours ago
E
Ernest
Nashville3h ago
To quote a phrase from back in the day, Don’t Believe The Hype. It’s a set up.
JeanieDiva commented 3 hours ago
J
JeanieDiva
NYC3h ago
So when are we going to admit, in print and elsewhere, that the christian nationalists have taken over the Federal government? When is it going to be stated, clearly and with passion, that we are now living in a dictatorship? Who is calling to call out what is happening without softening it? Those who do say something are often punished. The millions and millions of people who think we should follow the manifesto of Project 2025 are happy. They are backed by numerous multi-millionaires who have been organizing their ideology for decades. The MSM has not been forthcoming about the push by the Southern Baptist Convention supporting these goals and the Seven Mountains idea. Every single American should seriously wake up to the FACT that we are promoting white supremacy, and hatred of all kinds. Emperor Trump is doing very well fiddling while the country burns. His enablers know exactly how to manipulate him but he is still "the President" and treated as if he were just another man in the job. He's not. Jamelle Bouie's newsletter today says it all.
Carmelita commented 3 hours ago
C
Carmelita
Miami3h ago
I feel like I’m in an alternative universe. As a product of an HBCU and knowing that, although 3% of colleges, they’re responsible for over 70% of Black teachers, doctors, and lawyers makes me proud. Having been historically and currently underfunded, is this the way to reparations? I’m wary about this.
Mark commented 3 hours ago
M
Mark
Mr. Klein is wrong in his claims that Charlie Kirk practiced politics “in exactly the right way” and that he and Mr. Kirk were on the “same side of the continued possibility of American politics.”
Charlie Kirk dealt almost exclusively in bad-faith arguments, distorting facts and bringing up the irrelevant, often employing rhetorical tactics to verbally and emotionally dominate his opponent.
The “right way” to do politics is not to say horrid things for shock value, as Mr. Kirk was known to do.
Mr. Klein is also wrong to ignore the detrimental influence of Mr. Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, one that has employed “edgy” politics and demeaning tactics to attract legions of young people to its cause. In what world is this the “right way” to do politics?
No one deserves to be murdered. Nor does anyone deserve to be lionized for fomenting hatred toward others and seeking to dominate and humiliate his opponents.
Ethan Feingold
Chicago
To the Editor:
Ezra Klein argues that Charlie Kirk did politics the right way, regardless of his views. Mr. Klein thus separates political practice from its content. That is both unwise and dangerous.
Mr. Kirk was critical of civil rights. He was against L.G.B.T.Q. rights. He consistently vilified marginalized people. What does it mean to attack these groups in the “right” way?
Does open dialogue now render any speech a societal good? Speech should not be policed. True. But not all speech done freely is good for the country.
Mr. Klein’s focus on free speech done “right” rests on the false notion that maintaining civil discourse sufficiently prevents violence. But this ignores the violence latent in Mr. Kirk’s content.
Free speech can be used for good or ill. An effective exercise of that right does not ensure its benefit. Mr. Klein confuses the two. When used to harmful ends, it should never be lionized, regardless of its civility.
No one should be gunned down for their views. But Mr. Kirk’s death does not mark the loss of a society-advancing speaker.
Jed Forman
Des Moines
The writer is an assistant professor in Buddhist studies at Simpson College, Indianola.
To the Editor:
The organization Charlie Kirk founded, Turning Point USA, hosts a “Professor Watchlist.” I was placed on this list in 2022, when I was a writer of a guest essay in The Times’s Opinion section.
The list was Mr. Kirk’s attempt to intimidate college professors like me from speaking out publicly about the issues we care about. Its goal was to goad people to harass the professors on this list.
Mr. Kirk and his list did not intimidate me. It helps that I have tenure in the supportive environment of Smith College. But many of my colleagues hesitate to speak or write publicly because of the tactics used by Mr. Kirk and those he inspired. This list has led to doxxing, harassment and threats against many faculty members.
This is not “practicing politics the right way.”
Carrie N. Baker
Northampton, Mass.
The writer is a professor and the chair of the Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality at Smith College.
*[The following remarks are taken from the ‘Comments section’ of the NY Times following the publication of today’s article “Trump Redirects Millions to Historically Black Colleges, Charter Schools” by Sarah Mervosh and Michael C. Bender, September 15, 2025]
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/us/hbcus-trump-administration-funding.html
Comments 429
New York Times
T Nelson commented 3 hours ago
T
T Nelson
Maine3h ago
So, bring back “separate but equal “?
CrystalClear commented 3 hours ago
C
CrystalClear
US3h ago
Looks a lot like the Trump Administration is seeking to re-segregate higher ed again -- "separate but equal" comes to mind...
Patrick Henry commented 3 hours ago
P
Patrick Henry
Virginia3h ago
Is this the start of separate-but-equal?
Notsolongago commented 3 hours ago
N
Notsolongago
Miami, FL3h ago
I hope that this attempt at buying the votes of Black voters will not blind folks to the reality that the Republican party is a White racial identity party with administration officials (and by proxy people such as Charlie Kirk) that the Southern Poverty Law Center has demonstrated deploy white supremacist rhetoric, spread anti Black racist disinformation, and have been directly tracked to white supremacist networks. The BASE of the Republican party are White Christian nationalist southerners attending predominantly white churches, and espousing white neo-confederate ideology. Is this really what HBCUs would like to empower and support?
Tim Lynch commented 3 hours ago
T
Tim Lynch
Philadelphia, PA3h ago
The shell game continues.
Karen commented 3 hours ago
K
Karen
Southwest Virginia3h ago
Call me skeptical but what's the catch? You know there will be a catch. I'd bet the Trump regime will then say which history these colleges are allowed to teach. It'll be "you took our money, now teach what I tell you." I also see it as an attempt to "make" Blacks and Native Americans attend only their own colleges. Segregation basically.
Huh?
Ny3h ago
“…The Trump administration eliminated the funding, saying that programs with racial quotas were inherently racist and violated civil rights law…”
Mom on Hayward Fault commented 3 hours ago
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Mom on Hayward Fault
Calif3h ago
How to fund “separate but equal.”
Paul from Oakland commented 3 hours ago
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Paul from Oakland
SF Bay Area3h ago
This is a rather obvious effort at segregation: Financially support historical Black colleges by taking away the hundreds of millions that other universities have historically received to ensure diversity in their student bodies.
CR commented 3 hours ago
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CR
CO3h ago
Separate but equal, of course.
Ernest commented 3 hours ago
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Ernest
Nashville3h ago
To quote a phrase from back in the day, Don’t Believe The Hype. It’s a set up.
JeanieDiva commented 3 hours ago
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JeanieDiva
NYC3h ago
So when are we going to admit, in print and elsewhere, that the christian nationalists have taken over the Federal government? When is it going to be stated, clearly and with passion, that we are now living in a dictatorship? Who is calling to call out what is happening without softening it? Those who do say something are often punished. The millions and millions of people who think we should follow the manifesto of Project 2025 are happy. They are backed by numerous multi-millionaires who have been organizing their ideology for decades. The MSM has not been forthcoming about the push by the Southern Baptist Convention supporting these goals and the Seven Mountains idea. Every single American should seriously wake up to the FACT that we are promoting white supremacy, and hatred of all kinds. Emperor Trump is doing very well fiddling while the country burns. His enablers know exactly how to manipulate him but he is still "the President" and treated as if he were just another man in the job. He's not. Jamelle Bouie's newsletter today says it all.
Carmelita commented 3 hours ago
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Carmelita
Miami3h ago
I feel like I’m in an alternative universe. As a product of an HBCU and knowing that, although 3% of colleges, they’re responsible for over 70% of Black teachers, doctors, and lawyers makes me proud. Having been historically and currently underfunded, is this the way to reparations? I’m wary about this.
Mark commented 3 hours ago
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Mark
