Education Secretary Linda McMahon Says Teaching 'Both Sides' of Tulsa Massacre and Ruby Bridges Isn’t DEI

During a House education subcommittee hearing, Education Secretary Linda McMahon stumbled through questions about whether teaching historically accurate accounts of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and Ruby Bridges’ integration of a New Orleans school would violate the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. 

Representative Summer Lee (D-PA) pressed McMahon on whether an African American history course could be considered DEI, especially if it included events like Tulsa and Bridges’ story. McMahon replied, “If you’re giving the facts on both sides, of course they’re not DEI,” prompting Lee to question, “What are both sides of Black history?”

When asked directly if she was familiar with the Tulsa massacre, McMahon responded, “I’d like to look into it more.” Lee followed up by asking if teaching Through My Eyes, Ruby Bridges’ memoir, would be deemed illegal under current policy. McMahon admitted she hadn’t read the book, and when asked if she had learned about Bridges at all, she pivoted, saying, “If you have any specific examples you would like to…” before Lee interrupted: “That was an incredibly specific example.”

McMahon’s vague answers highlighted broader concerns about the administration’s anti-DEI stance and how it could chill the teaching of Black history. The Tulsa massacre, widely regarded as the worst instance of racial violence in U.S. history, resulted in the deaths of up to 300 Black residents and the destruction of the prosperous Greenwood district. Bridges’ story, immortalized in a Norman Rockwell painting, symbolizes the fight to desegregate schools in the Jim Crow South.

McMahon was also unclear when asked whether schools could be punished for teaching that Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election. “We should hear all sides,” she said, referencing controversial new curriculum guidelines in Oklahoma that ask students to examine “discrepancies” in the election.

Later, Representative Mark Takano questioned McMahon on whether “viewpoint diversity” means hiring Holocaust deniers at Harvard. McMahon replied, “I believe there should be diversity of viewpoints relative to teachings and opinions on campuses,” dodging the question’s specifics.

The hearing left key concerns unresolved about what historical facts might be off-limits under the administration’s DEI policies.

Link: The Guardian