Federal judge blocks Trump's executive order banning some diversity trainings

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Federal judge blocks Trump's executive order banning some diversity trainings
President Donald Trump called certain diversity trainings mentioning "white privilege" and "unconscious bias" "divisive" and "un-American."Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
  • On Wednesday, a federal judge blocked President Trump's executive order banning or restricting some diversity trainings among federal government agencies and contractors.
  • US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued a preliminary nationwide injunction against Trump's order, ruling on a lawsuit filed by LGBT rights groups in November.
  • The executive order, which was passed on Sept. 22, barred agencies or companies receiving federal funding from participating in "offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating" trainings.
  • The executive order targeted trainings that use certain terms, including "critical race theory," "white privilege," and "unconscious bias."
  • "Plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success in proving violations of their constitutional rights," Freeman wrote, according to USA Today. "Moreover, as the government itself acknowledges, the work Plaintiffs perform is extremely important to historically underserved communities."
  • In October, The NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a separate complaint in federal court in Washington, D.C., along with the National Urban League and the National Fair Housing Alliance.
  • More than 160 business and nonprofit groups, including dozens of state and city chambers of commerce as well as the US Chamber of Commerce, called on Trump to withdraw the order in September.
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