For those who are not familiar with or do not remember when George C. Wallace was the Governor of the State of Alabama, let us revisit his Jan.14, 1963 inaugural address. A phrase that stood out and became a rallying cry was his commitment to: “Segregation now!” “Segregation tomorrow!” “And segregation forever!” This was his call as he stood at the face of the Alabama Capitol.

The counter to the backwardness of this pre- Brown v. Board of Education , Topeka (1954)-thinking—the rejection of this segregationist- thinking on race—was to take place months later on Aug. 28, 1963 as the “March on Washington.” Headlined by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, he delivered his iconic “I have a dream” speech with over 250,000(!) people in attendance.

Dr. King and the leadership of the “March of Washington” for “jobs and freedom” were welcomed in the White House by President John F. Kennedy. Under Democrat President Kennedy’s leadership, the nation was beginning to accept the idea of the civil rights agenda.

In fact, it was in the memory of the assassinated President John F. Kennedy, that President Lyndon Baines Johnson was able to get passed landmark, historic legislation, “the Bill of the Century,” the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This act served as the first national enforcement arm of the 1954 Brown decision.

In contradiction to the spirit of the America’s commitment to civil rights, President Trump and his “Project 2025” administration are turning back the clock to a time in which “Segregation today! Segregation tomorrow! And segregation forever!” Is being re-implemented.

Much of the attack on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in principle is because it supposedly undermines “merit” and discriminates against white people. For this reason, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., the first African American appointed to the to the position was dismissed. Brown, who was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, was removed from office because he was considered to be a DEI hire by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

General Brown, the African American General was replaced by a Lt. General Daniel Caine, a white man of obviously lesser rank.

In another case of what might be called a clear case of “ ‘reverse’ reverse discrimination,” President Trump recently fired Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, she was the first woman and the first African American to hold the position. She had been appointed in 2016, by President Barack Obama. Dr. Hayden held a PhD. in Library Science and had been President of the American Library Association. She was the first professional librarian to hold the position since 1974. President Donald Trump attempted to replace her with Todd Blance who had no apparent qualifications when it comes to library science. Rather than a woman of color, Todd Blanche is a white male.

The “white (male) preference” of this President is very similar to that of George Wallace in Alabama in the white supremacist South in 1963. Or put another way, “Make America Great Again” really means, make America like it was before.

Further, these two examples show the attacks on DEI are not what they say they are: rather than promote fairness, their purpose seems to restore “the rightness of whiteness.”

More broadly than the rights of individuals, as in the cases of General Brown and Dr. Hayden, the Administration is claiming that DEI policies can lead to “reverse discrimination,” a phenomenon that is indiscernible, that will undermine academic rigor and notions of merit and as a consequence.

Harvard University is not only the nation’s first institution of higher education, having been established in 1636, it is not only America’s oldest university, it is the world’s most prestigious. Even so, it is being threatened that its tax-exempt status will be withdrawn should it not follow the demands of the Administration.

That the government’s demands are so wide-ranging, Havard is countering the Administration’s demands based on First Amendment grounds. The government is seeking to control curriculum, hiring and firing policies, extra-curricular programs, all aspects of the university. Unlike a fellow Ivy League that was perceived as caving, Harvard is being praised to its resistance to the administration’s demands.

Unfortunately, this DEI struggle is not limited to Harvard, states with Republican majorities are adopting anti-DEI stances. Michigan’s neighbor to the South has just passed SB1, which, will be effective June 27, 2025 requiring Ohio University and other Ohio institutions of higher education to comply with these new anti-DEI policies.

For the State of Michigan, under its Democratic Party leadership, Michigan institutions face no threat such as that faced by Havard. Central Michigan University will continue its commitment to diversity.