Pam Bondi just declared war on Civil Rights

The hits just keep on coming don't they?

If you thought the Trump administration's attack on DEI was bad before, buckle up.

As reported in The New Republic, Attorney General Pam Bondi recently released a memo that does more than roll back diversity programs. Instead, it actively weaponizes the Justice Department against any attempt to address racial and gender inequities.

In a nutshell, the Department of Justice (DOJ) now wants to pull federal funding from organizations that acknowledge that discrimination exists and tries to do something about it.

This is about more than DEI

Bondi's memo reads like a fever dream of conservative grievance as federal policy. The scope is astounding:

• State agencies ca no longer prioritize contracts for women-owned or minority-owned businesses
• Schools can't have "diverse slate" hiring practices
• Scholarships specifically for Black students are now considered discrimination
• Employee training that mentions concepts like "toxic masculinity" is banned
• Even college lounges designated for specific identity groups are being called "unlawful segregation"

Read that last one again. They're literally comparing safe spaces for marginalized students to Jim Crow segregation.

The audacity is insane. They truly think they are beyond reproach.

The new Newspeak

The Trump administration is taking the language of civil rights and turning it inside out and upside down. Programs designed to remedy centuries of discrimination are now labeled as discrimination themselves. It's like saying a bandage discriminates against healthy skin.

This memo not only eliminates DEI programs, but also makess them illegal for Federally funded organizations. They can no longer acknowledge systemic barriers with falling afoul of the law.

No for the real upside down bit that the memo makes crystal clear.

While student lounges for marginalized groups are "segregation," allowing transgender people to use bathrooms matching their gender identity "can also violate federal law."

So inclusion is segregation, but actual exclusion is fine.

How this plays out in the real world

This memo isn't just a PR stunt, it has real-world impact:

• underrepresented groups
• It makes it harder for women and minority-owned businesses to compete for government contracts
• It strips protections and resources for marginalized communities

Most of all, it creates a chilling effect effectively forcing organizations to avoid diversity initiatives or lose federal funding.

This is all being done under the banner of "civil rights." It's perverse.

Part of a larger effort to turn back the clock

This isn't happening in isolation. Remember that poll data showing Americans are backing away from believing discrimination is real? This memo is both a symptom and a cause of that shift. When the Justice Department itself declares that efforts to address inequality are actually the real discrimination, it gives cover to those who pretends we live in a post-racial society.

The message is clear. The U.S. government has decided that white discomfort and the ability to discriminate is more important than the actual barriers that women and people of color still face.

Now what?

This memo doesn't just eliminate existing programs. It creates a framework where any acknowledgment of systemic inequality becomes legally problematic. How do you address discrimination when you're not allowed to name it or target solutions toward affected groups?

You don't. Which is exactly the point. Again, this is their endgame. Officially ignoring and denying discrimination so they can practice it out in the open without any consequences.

They're not just moving us backwards on racial justice, but also actively making it illegal to move forward. The Trump administration is using the power of federal funding to force organizations to pretend that centuries of discrimination never happened or have no lasting effect.

It's a "meritocracy" for the white elite. Because make no mistake about it. Poor whites are not invited to this party either. Ever. Same as it ever was.

Looking for optimism

This feels overwhelming. The Justice Department itself has become an obstacle to justice (and even a weapon against it). Where do we begin?

First, organizations must get creative about how they support marginalized communities. Legal challenges are already being planned. But we know where the Supreme Court lies on this issue.

Also, we need to keep having honest conversations about what's really happening here.

Most importantly, we must speak truth to power in any way we can. This is why this site exists. The audience may be small, but the share passion is real.

Make no mistake: this isn't about ensuring fairness or protecting civil rights. This is about dismantling decades of progress and returning to a system where inequality is just accepted as the natural order of things. This is about rolling back all the gains we've made since the passage of the civil rights act.

This government wants to consign it to oblivion.

We cannot let that happen without a fight.

Non in cautus futuri.