The Trump administration has removed a long-standing order from the civil rights era that explicitly prohibits federal contractors from allowing segregated facilities.
The removal of the isolated facility policy was included last month in a memo from the General Services Bureau, which manages federal property and oversees federal procurement. The memo, which applies to all civil federal agencies, is one of many directives from agencies that aimed to purge safeguards introduced in the 1960s, compliant with executive orders issued by President Trump on race and gender identity. During his first days in office, Trump directed institutions to eliminate “harmful” and “wasteful” diversity policies and “gender ideological extremism.”
The memo, which was revealed after being reported by National Public Radio this week, removes some provisions from the GSA federal acquisition rules used to seek services and supply agreements. The memo said the language “is not in line with the president's direction.” Among the deletions was a policy last updated in 2015, with the stipulated federal contractor unable to have “separated facilities” such as waiting rooms, work areas, toilets, lunchrooms and water foundations.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 still prohibits discrimination and segregated facilities in the United States. But civil rights groups fear that the war against Trump's DEI program shows a willingness to retreat from implementing it.
Dallily Rodriguez, acting co-chief counsel for the Act on Civil Rights Commission, said that, like Trump's revocation of a decades-old order issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which prohibits discrimination in the employment of government contractors, stripping of the segregation clause “promotes protections that promote stocks and inclusion, including workplaces.”
“The actions of the Trump administration are pressure testing our democracy and eroding more than 60 years of progress,” Rodriguez said.
“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains the land law,” she added. “But the law is only as strong as their enforcement.”
In a statement by the Times, General Services Department spokesperson Stephanie Joseph said the GSA “continues to ensure that federal contractors comply with long established civil rights provisions found in US law.” She also said, “The GSA is committed to supporting the president's direction in order to streamline the federal contract process to restore merit-based opportunities, increase speed and efficiency, and reduce costs.”
Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, was called “a step backward that threatens to create a hostile work environment for women, people of color and others facing a history of employment discrimination.”
“I hope that contractors have a good sense of not reintroducing segregation into the workplace,” she said.
The White House dismissed the criticism as “unpleasant falsehood” and “unfounded reporting,” and undermined Trump's accusations by his voters to unify the country.
“President Trump follows the law in his pursuit to reverse the disastrous policies of his previous administration and unleash prosperity through deregulation,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement. “His leadership means businesses have fewer bureaucratic obstacles and a smoother path to working with the federal government.”
The White House argues that Trump's executive orders are not intended for a particular group of people, and that agencies have autonomy in implementing them. However, fallout has focused disproportionately on policies affecting black people, from the erasure of employees of color and their history.
