Activists and education experts are sharply criticizing President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal for “reparations” for so-called “victims” who’re discriminated against in diversity, equity and inclusion teaching programs, also known as DEI.

Trump and Republicans’ goal in eliminating DEI from public education, Johns said, is to “prevent students and censored individuals from engaging in critical thinking in a way that makes it easier to maintain this regime.”

In the video, Trump promised to make use of the Justice Department’s authority to “pursue federal civil rights cases” against schools that “racially discriminate and schools that persist in overt, unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity.”

The president-elect announced that grants from schools promoting racial equality could be taxed and fined. He proposed that “part of the confiscated funds should then be used to compensate the victims of these illegal and unjust policies… that have hurt our country so much.”

While some online have described Trump’s proposal as “reparations” for white people, racial justice advocates explain that the term is misleading.

“It’s really necessary that we do not loosen up with the word ‘compensation.’ He himself didn’t use the word ‘reparations,’ and I feel it is vital that we do not start overusing that term, especially as we proceed to try to coach people on what it means,” said Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter, author of Radical Reparations: Healing the Soul of a Nation “.

Dr. Johns said Trump’s “restitution” proposal might be higher described as “grievance subsidies” for white people. The scholar and activist said Trump’s renewed attacks on DEI are nothing latest.

“What he did is consistent with what the Daughters of the Confederacy did after the Civil War,” Johns said, referring to the group’s promotion of a false “Lost Cause” ideology that minimized the role of slavery as a reason behind the Civil War and portrayed the Confederacy in a more positive light.

No federal law currently prohibits educational programs deemed DEI, except the ban on race-based admissions, also known as affirmative motion, invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023. However, several governors have attempted to ban DEI programs through state-level laws. It’s also unclear whether Trump can actually impose a penalty on school funds as he claims.

Dr. Hunter said Trump’s claim for “restitution” in equity reminded him of a 2023 racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a white student attending Howard University Law School. Although the coed’s claim of being “treated differently” due to his race was the identical released A federal judge allowed his case to be heard under the guise of losing his scholarship on “racial grounds.”

“For a lot of these things, you have to be able to prove verifiable damages,” Hunter said. “So a few of what (Trump) says will occur isn’t possible because people cannot really prove the damage. “It’s also a rhetorical conversation that’s just very dangerous.”

“When it comes to redress for victims, I’m really not sure where they go from there,” James said. “I have not heard of students who have concerns that DEI programs on campuses or at their institutions are discriminatory against them.” She added: “I would like to know more about where they get arguments like victimization.”

Ultimately, advocates warn that eliminating DEI from classrooms will undo what little progress has been made in diversifying schools and raising multicultural knowledge.

“DEI is truly part of how we ensure an inclusive society that prioritizes belonging and allows everyone to thrive safely,” Dr. James said. “So the idea that we are eliminating DEI teachings and principles in schools means that we are trying to divide our society as a whole.”

She continued: “Removing these programs means that we are going to see a scarcity of culturally responsive teaching on the a part of teachers, which implies they’ll not recognize or use instructional materials that teach different histories that reflect different cultures and different identities. “

NBCJC’s Dr. Johns warns that the implications of attacks on DEI and Trump’s proposal to eliminate the Department of Education can have more serious consequences for Black, Brown and LGBTQ students and teachers.

“I even have witnessed and are available into contact with children who experience political persecution that limits their access to care, their access to affirming and supportive educators, their ability to seek out after-school groups and programs where they will be affirmed and know that they’re brilliantly and splendidly done thoroughly as they’re,” Johns said.

He continued: “They have few lifelines that prevent them from having fun, let alone pursuing the option of suicide, which continues to increase in numbers when we think about black youth in general, and then racial and ethnic minority youth who are also members of sexual groups, minority communities.”

“Where do teachers go when they are wrongfully targeted by white actors? Where do we tell people to complain?” Johns asked.

However, Dr. Johns reminds us that public education and the “prison industrial complex” “were never intended to affirm the benefits or otherwise ensure the well-being of black people, which is why we have a long tradition of creating institutions that do this work.”

He added: “I hope that churches, communities, associations and organizations, many of which we show up in ministry, will understand the need to fill this gap in a radically inclusive and loving way.”

Jon Jones’ electrifying TKO victory over Stipe Miocic on November 16 left his claim as the best fighter in UFC history virtually undisputed as he defended his heavyweight title, defeating the 42-year-old Miocic with a devastating spinning kick to the midsection that stopped him.

According to Jones interrupted his victory at Madison Square Garden, imitating Donald Trump’s dance, later presenting him with the title and celebrating with the president-elect.

Jones’ post-fight speech mainly focused on his desire to proceed fighting in the UFC, even at the age of 37.

“I’ve decided that perhaps I won’t retire and that I would like to have some conversations with (UFC President) Dana (White) and (UFC Chief Business Officer) Hunter (Campbell) and we’d like to do some negotiations and if all goes well, possibly we’ll provide you with the whole lot you wish to see,” Jones told UFC’s Joe Rogan.

Jones also praised his opponent, who was unable to inform whether Jones’ offense had an effect on him or not until he received a devastating kick to the stomach.

“It’s like fighting the Terminator,” Jones explained to Rogan. “It’s very, very discouraging to hit someone who doesn’t reply to it. But that body shot, regardless of how strong you might be, liver is liver.

Jones expressed his appreciation for Trump, who was at ringside alongside White and Elon Musk. Trump was also joined by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kid Rock.

“I want to thank President Donald Trump very, very much for being here tonight,” Jones said, prompting a loud ovation that was a “USA! USA!” chant.

Dana White is a longtime friend and supporter of Trump. he spoke at the 2016 and 2024 Republican National Conventions, each times at Trump’s request.

According to the Associated Press, Jones praised White’s connections to Trump on the eve of the event at MSG, telling reporters: “Seeing Dana on stage during the election, I feel like that moment just lifted the entire sport. Americans and people from all over the world were asking: who is this bald guy? It represents all of us.”

Rogan also hosted Trump on his podcast during a three-hour interview and encouraged Trump to make false claims about voting, voter fraud and Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.

Rogan also endorsed Trump in the presidential election, and his appearance on Rogan’s show was a part of Trump’s strategy to have interaction young male voters through recent media during his campaign.

A brand new law in Tennessee requiring police to charge each children and adults who make threats of mass violence with crimes, whether the threats are credible or not, has resulted in an escalation in arrests of young college students, a few of whom have mental and mental disabilities.

Among them is “Ty,” a 13-year-old black boy with autism who was arrested on the second day of this school 12 months after he smuggled his favorite stuffed bunny into his backpack before heading to a Hamilton County middle school, where he told a teacher he didn’t he wants anyone to take a look at him.

When the teacher asked why, Ty (real name withheld) replied, “Because the whole school will explode” – him and his mother he told ProPublica and Nashville Public Radiowho co-authored a series of articles on Tennessee’s crackdown on student threats.

Ty’s teacher immediately called the school administrator, who then notified the police. In the counselor’s office, the backpack was opened and inside was only a harmless toy bunny. As Ty stood there confused about what he had done mistaken, the police handcuffed him, patted him down, after which put him in the back of a police automobile.

The sheriff’s office later issued a press release stating that “no explosive device was found in the backpack.”

Ty was taken to a juvenile penal complex and suspended from high school for several days. His case was soon dismissed by the juvenile court.

His mother couldn’t imagine the best way the school responded to the incident. Ty’s special education plan calls for him to be outgoing and friendly with other students, but he commonly has outbursts and meltdowns in class due to his disability.

Federal law prohibits schools from punishing students with disabilities too harshly for conduct attributable to or related to the incapacity. State law requires school officials to expel for a 12 months a student who makes threats of mass violence, but provided that an investigation shows the threat is substantiated.

But one other, competing state law, passed by Tennessee’s Republican-controlled Legislature after the March 2023 Covenant School shooting in Nashville that killed six people, now requires police to charge all people, children and adults, with crimes related to from threats of any sort of mass violence, whether or not they’re later found to be credible.

As a result, students across the state at the moment are being arrested for making statements that would not result in expulsion, ProPublica noted.

“When you looked at his backpack, if there was nothing in it that could hurt anyone, why did you handcuff my 13-year-old autistic son who didn’t understand what was happening and put him in juvie?” said Ty’s mother, who decided to transfer him from Ooltewah Middle School.

“Every time we walk past this school, Ty asks, ‘Am I going to go back to prison, Mom?’ … He was really traumatized,” she said. “I felt like no one at this school was really fighting for him. They were too busy justifying what they did.”

The state doesn’t collect data on how the criminal law, which went into effect in July, affects students with disabilities. But Data obtained by ProPublica in Hamilton County, which revealed that in the primary six weeks of the school 12 months, 18 students were arrested for making threats of mass violence, though school officials described a lot of the threats as “low level” and “without evidence of motive.”

Of the scholars arrested, 39 percent were black in comparison with 30 percent of scholars districtwide. And 33 percent had disabilities, greater than twice the proportion of scholars with disabilities in the district’s population.

Statewide, ProPublica found that not less than 519 students were charged with threats of mass violence last school 12 months, though it was a misdemeanor, up from 442 students the 12 months before. Many of the scholars were junior high school students, most of them boys.

This increase in juvenile arrests for school threats reflects a nationwide trend.

Within three weeks later two teachers and two students died According to the Apalachee High School report, throughout the deadliest school shooting in Georgia history, arrests were made and charged with threatening schools in not less than 45 states. New York Times review of press reports, law enforcement statements and court records. Nearly 10 percent were 12 years old or younger.

As the Los Angeles Times noted, the arrests got here at a time when police and schools faced threats of violence, shootings and bombings. The reports terrified students and their parents, caused attendance to drop and compelled the temporary closure of dozens of campuses.

In most cases, the warnings weren’t reliable. But police must investigate every threat, and the rising numbers are frustrating and exhausting law enforcement. After previous shootings, including the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and the recent shooting in Georgia, law enforcement officials have been criticized for ignoring warning signs.

Disability rights advocates say students like Ty shouldn’t be arrested under current Tennessee law, which makes an exception for people with mental disabilities, which Ty suffers from in addition to autism.

They are also pushing lawmakers to vary state law to create broader exceptions for college kids with other sorts of disabilities, including those who make students susceptible to frequent outbursts or disruptive behavior.

Zoe Jamail, policy coordinator for Disability Rights Tennessee, met last 12 months with Rep. Bo Mitchell, the Nashville Democrat who co-authored the brand new Zero Tolerance for Threats Act, to implore him so as to add recent language to the bill, that would bring it into compliance with federal law, ProPublica reported.

“No student who makes a threat that is considered an indication of the student’s disability shall be held liable under this section,” reads one version of the amendment, which was not put to a vote in the state Legislature.

Mitchell said he was “devastated” to listen to that Ty was handcuffed and traumatized. But he added: “We’re trying to stop people who should know better from doing this, and if they do they deserve more than just a slap on the wrist.”

Still, Mitchell said he would be open to considering an exception in the law in the following legislative session for college kids with a broader range of disabilities.

The bill’s other co-sponsor, Rep. Cameron Sexton, the Republican House speaker, was less sympathetic.

He acknowledged that school officials and law enforcement might have more training and resources to raised implement the law. However, he firmly argued that disabled students were able to committing acts of mass violence and may be punished.

“I think you can make a lot of excuses for a lot of people,” he said.