Perhaps someone reminded Trump about the sacred relationship of Black America to the land, and the government's recognition of how it creates American prosperity. Black people with Indigenous American roots have been cultivating this land before the Europeans arrived.
The 1890 Scholarship was administered by the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), and was named for the 1890 law that funded HBCUs (Historical Black Colleges and Universities). In Trump’s push to end all DEI programs in the United States, he has threatened to withhold federal funding for any public or private institution that has any DEI programs intact.
For example, the Defense Department declined this year to attend a Black Engineer convention, from where they had previously sought promising recruits, because that might look like “DEI.”
DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) can have broad meaning when wielded by the political right. As a program, DEI has only existed a few years, founded long after the 1890 Scholarship was instituted in 1992.
But for now, Trump has chosen to maintain the federal government’s sacred relationship with Black-serving institutions. This may be the closest sacred relationship the U.S. government has with the Black Indigenous community.
Sources:
HBCU Gameday Newswire, “Trump Administration Restores HBCU 1890 Funding After Pause,” HBCU Gameday.com, February 25, 2025.
Eva McKend,”Trump Administration Suspends Agriculture Department Scholarship at Historically Black Colleges," CNN.com, February 21, 2025.
