(Reuters) – The NAACP sued the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday to stop its alleged illegal effort to cut off funding to schools that use diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and prevent Black students from receiving equal education opportunities.

In a complaint filed in Washington, D.C., the largest U.S. civil rights group faulted the Trump administration for targeting programs that offer “truthful, inclusive curricula,” policies to give Black Americans equal access to selective education opportunities, and efforts to foster a sense of belonging and address racism.

It also said the policies “advance a misinterpretation” of federal civil rights laws and Supreme Court precedent that undermine NAACP members’ equal protection rights and protections from viewpoint discrimination under the U.S. Constitution.

The Education Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the federal lawsuit.

Trump Made Ending DEI Programs a Top Priority

U.S. President Donald Trump has made ending racial preferences and so-called DEI programs a top priority in his second White House term.

The Education Department had on February 14 sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools receiving federal funding.

That letter said federal law prevented the schools from considering race as a factor in areas such as admissions, hiring and promotion, pay, financial aid, scholarships and prizes, housing and graduation ceremonies.

Then on April 3, the department demanded certifications of compliance from schools, including an end to DEI programs.

It said this was required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars recipients from allowing discrimination based on race, and a 2023 Supreme Court decision involving Harvard University that effectively ended race-conscious admissions in higher education.

While the department agreed in a separate lawsuit in New Hampshire not to enforce the “Dear Colleague” letter until April 24, the NAACP said some schools have lost funding while others have flinched and canceled programs.

It cited the Waterloo, Iowa, school district’s withdrawal of first-grade students from the University of Northern Iowa’s annual African American Read-In, which nearly 3,500 students at 73 schools attended.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson accused the White House of “effectively sanctioning” discrimination that U.S. civil rights laws were designed to prevent.

“Children of color consistently attend segregated, chronically underfunded schools where they receive less educational opportunities and more discipline,” Johnson said. “Denying these truths doesn’t make them disappear–it deepens the harm.”

The NAACP was founded in 1909. Its acronym is short for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The case is NAACP v U.S. Department of Education et al, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 25-01120.

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(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis)