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The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it
One initiative distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones.
Though Trump called it racist, the words “race” or “racial” appear just twice in the law’s text: once, alongside “color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability,” in a passage stating that no groups should be excluded from funding, and later, in a list of covered populations, along with older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, English learners, people with low literacy levels and rural Americans. “It is insane — absolutely nuts — that Trump is blocking resources to help make sure kids in rural school districts can get hot spots or laptops, all because he doesn’t like the word equity!” He said Trump’s move to end funding has put nonprofits such as Free Geek in a precarious position, forcing them to make up the difference through their own fundraising and “beg for money to just provide individuals with essential stuff.”
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