It is one of the grand marvels of American life that whenever a simple rule gets laid down, like “don’t discriminate,” there’ll be a thousand learned men to stand up, puff out their chests, and explain why it doesn’t apply to them.
Seeing the rickety DEI contraption creaking and groaning in every schoolhouse, the Trump Administration had the brass to insist states obey the Civil Rights Act as written–and not twisted by self-important professors and well-paid consultants. The demand was plain–stop using “diversity, equity, and inclusion” as a fig leaf for racial discrimination, or else find yourselves fishing for funds without a federal hook.
After certifying its good conduct in February, Nevada is stumbling over its two left feet. When asked to reaffirm its commitment—this time with clear eyes and a sober mind about what the law says—Nevada’s education department responded like a boy who swears he cleaned the barn but can’t explain the lingering smell.
Steve Canavero, the interim school boss in Nevada, put pen to paper and delivered the political equivalent of a shrug. He said the state believed it was following the law but wasn’t sure what the Trump administration meant by “illegal DEI.” One might wonder how many lawyers it takes to define the word “illegal,” but then–this is government work, where common sense is often the first casualty.
The Trump team, led by Secretary Linda McMahon, is not asking for anything wild or novel. They are not banning kindness, fairness, or opportunity. They’re reminding the states–who seem to forget at every turn that you can’t violate the Civil Rights Act in the name of virtue.
Equity is not equality. Preference is not justice, and discrimination dressed up in fancy language is still discrimination.
Of course, the bigwigs who love DEI like a hog loves slop are screeching at the top of their lungs. Nineteen Democratic attorneys general, including Nevada’s Aaron Ford, rushed to the courthouse, shouting that Washington’s being mean. Meanwhile, federal judges handed down a temporary slap on the wrist, telling the administration to slow its roll–for now.
Several states, loyal to their liberal masters, flat-out refused to comply. Connecticut and Maine paraded their defiance like a child showing off a black eye. Others, like Georgia and Iowa, recognized a simple truth: if you want the money, you follow the rules. Utah, too, hedged its bets, not rejecting the Trump administration outright but playing the waiting game—a favorite sport among the politically cautious.
And what of Nevada? It stands in the middle, peering down the tracks at the oncoming train, hoping to collect the ticket money and dodge the ride. But there’s no escaping the plain fact–the Trump administration is not trying to rewrite the law; it’s trying to enforce it. If Nevada wants to keep pretending that discrimination is noble so long as it wears a polite label, it may find itself reading about school funding in the past tense.
In the end, there are two kinds of people in this country–those who bend the law to suit their fancies and those who remember why it got written in the first place.
And the latter, thank Heaven, are not yet extinct.
The Old Blog in the Desert 
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