Dei

Mater Dei trailed 24-3. The Trinity League title appeared destined to belong to St. John Bosco, another win to cap an undefeated for the consensus No. 1 team in the nation.

Until Chris Henry Jr. emerged for two touchdowns and 214 yards on five receptions.

“He could be a track star,” said Mater Dei coach Raul Lara, referencing Henry’s 70-yard touchdown catch near the end of the second quarter.

Until Kayden Dixon-Wyatt took over alongside his teammate — both Ohio State commits — and turned on the burners for three second-half scores.

“I wish I could be the quarterback,” Lara joked about his senior wide receivers.

Testing the wide receiver corps of Mater Dei — who outpowered the Braves’ impressive trio of Division I-committed receivers — left St. John Bosco hapless on Friday night in Bellflower. Mater Dei (7-2, 4-1) finished on a 33-7 run, Ryan Hopkins tossing five touchdowns in that span to help the Monarchs defeat St. John Bosco 36-31 in comeback fashion.

Mater Dei High’s CJ Lavender Jr. leaps high to make an interception during the game against St. John Bosco on Friday night.

(Craig Weston)

Hopkins finished 13-of-21 passing for 295 yards and the five touchdowns.

All of the doubts over the Monarchs’ regular-season campaign could be close to washed away as the second-half domination confirmed another year when Mater Dei at least owns a share of the Trinity League title.

Since Santa Margarita (7-3, 4-1) also won Friday — defeating JSerra 41-14 — the Eagles, along with Mater Dei and St. John Bosco (9-1, 4-1) earned a share of the Trinity League crown.

Defensive stands set up plays such as Henry’s 70-yard touchdown grab to cut the Braves’ lead to seven with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter. Mater Dei defensive back CJ Lavender Jr. forced and recovered a fumble in the first quarter to set up the Monarchs’ first points: a field goal.

Lavender then intercepted St. John Bosco sophomore quarterback Koa Malau’ulu twice more.

One pick created a silver-platter touchdown for Dixon-Wyatt, who finished with four receptions for 46 yards and three touchdowns, while the other turnover allowed Mater Dei to seal the game on fourth and 10 from its own 10-yard line.

“Anything he threw, I was going to go get it,” said Lavender, who now has a team-high seven interceptions on the season.

Mater Dei receiver Chris Henry Jr. hauls in a pass over his shoulder ahead of two St. John Bosco defenders on Friday night.

(Craig Weston)

Before the final interception — which came with 1:34 remaining in the game — St. John Bosco was driving. An unsportsmanlike penalty even provided the Braves at first and inches from the goal line.

But a bad snap to Malau’ulu pushed the Braves backward to the seven-yard line. A run for a loss brought St. John Bosco to the 10-yard line that then led to an interception.

Henry, who hadn’t played since Oct. 10 against Orange Lutheran, said he was itching to get back out on the field to play St. John Bosco.

“It was really difficult,” Henry said of his time off the field. “But I was ready for a game like this.”

Henry will have plenty more opportunities upcoming in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, starting next week.

The trio of Trinity League teams likely will see Sierra Canyon (10-0) — which finished its Mission League-winning campaign with a 52-3 victory over Loyola — among the teams they could face off against in the playoffs.

Trent Mosley itched and itched, the discomfort of standing on the sideline — not his foot injury that held him out of action since Aug. 22 — weighing on the senior receiver.

The USC commit picked an exceptional time to return. Trailing by six, with 5:06 remaining in the game, Mosley took the snap in the wildcat formation and swerved his way into the end zone for a touchdown.

“It sucked just knowing I couldn’t go out there and help my teammates,” Mosley said. “Now I’m back and we’re getting better.”

The score and the hush of the normally raucous Santa Ana Stadium crowd told the story: For the first time in a long while, the Trinity League is up for grabs. Santa Margarita (5-2, 2-0) played Southern Section stunner on Friday night at Santa Ana Stadium, upsetting Mater Dei 7-6 to set the stage for a thrilling Trinity League finale after the Eagles took down the Monarchs (4-2, 1-1) for the first time since 2013.

“Incredible,” Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer said. “They’ve been playing like the best defense in the country all year long, every week.”

Palmer pointed to defensive coordinator Steve Fifita, who served as interim head coach during last season and decided to stay on the Eagles’ staff as the catalyst for Santa Margarita’s success. Mater Dei had only 175 yards on offense Friday.

Mater Dei High’s CJ Lavender Jr. intercepts a pass intended for Santa Margarita receiver Grant Mosley on Friday night.

(Craig Weston)

“They’re [Fifita’s] heartbeat on defense,” Palmer said of the group, which includes Fifita’s nephew Dash, a senior linebacker.

Pound-for-pound, the defensive lines of Santa Margarita and Mater Dei wouldn’t budge.

Eagles senior linebacker Vai Manutai would secure a sack — while moments later Monarchs linemen Montana Loilolo and Matamatagi Uiagalelei stormed through for sacks of their own. Monarchs linebacker Shaun Scott forced a fumble and earned 1 1/2 sacks as the Eagles couldn’t break 25 rushing yards.

Mater Dei quarterback Ryan Hopkins never got comfortable — outside of a 10-yard touchdown strike to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt in the first quarter — eventually throwing an interception to Eagles defensive back Davide Morales as the third quarter came to a close.

“We’re right there, but we’re not quite there,” said Mater Dei coach Raul Lara, referring to plays such as Hopkins overthrowing wide receiver Gavin Honore for a potential game-winning touchdown, which instead became a turnover on downs with 2:06 remaining.

Lara continued: “This game of football is a great tool to teach young men life skills. Not everything in life is going to be perfect.”

Quarterback Trace Johnson of Santa Margarita could not get comfortable , tossing two interceptions into the hands of Mater Dei defensive back CJ Lavender Jr.

When Johnson found open space, it was thanks to Mosley.

For a team-high six catches for 51 yards, Mosley — who often lined up next to his brother Grant in the slot — helped set up the game-winning drive after freshman running back Adrian Petero hauled in a 59-yard catch to bring the Eagles into Monarchs’ territory.

Trent Mosley’s punch in and the point after — which was enough to win after a failed two-point conversion after Dixon-Wyatt’s score — now sets up unprecedented territory in recent Trinity League seasons.

Yes, Mater Dei and St. John Bosco (which defeated Orange Lutheran 48-0 Friday) will still be contenders.

But the Eagles, who also hold a win over Corona Centennial, can certainly consider themselves as contenders for the league’s crown — and maybe even Division 1 glory. Santa Margarita plays St. John Bosco on Friday at Trabuco Hills.

“We can go forever,” Trent Mosley said. “The culture we have, the bond we have — I know what we’re capable of.”

The expression “stay woke” started out as an affirmation for African Americans.

In the last decade it has been used by some Republicans — and some Democrats — as a pejorative for people thought to be too “politically correct,” another term that took on negative connotations as it gained wider use.

“Woke” has come up in cultural and political firestorms. Eight months into his second term, President Trump pledged to review content at the Smithsonian Institution for being “WOKE” and where “everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was.” At the beginning of this year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared in his State of the State address that government would keep “woke agendas” out of universities and K-12 schools, including “woke gender ideologies.”

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was ending the “woke” culture in the military, saying the service has been hamstrung by political correctness. He referenced diversity efforts, transgender troops, environmental policies and other disciplinary rules.

“America is no longer woke under President Trump’s leadership. The word ‘woke’ represents radical ideologies that are used [to] divide the American people and harm our country,” Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.

Here’s where “woke” came from, and how its meaning has evolved:

The history of ‘woke’

“Wokeness” originated decades ago as African American cultural slang for having awareness and enlightenment around racism, injustice, privilege or threats of white supremacist violence.

Several historians trace the idea to a 1923 compilation of speeches and articles by Jamaican-born Black nationalist Marcus Garvey. In one essay, Garvey writes “Wake up Ethiopia! Wake up Africa!” Another reference appears in 1938 in the song “Scottsboro Boys,” by blues artist Lead Belly, whose real name was Huddie Ledbetter. The tune follows the true story of four Black youths unjustly convicted by an all-white jury of the rape of two white women (they were later freed). The lyrics warn Black listeners to be careful and “stay woke. Keep your eyes open.”

Gerald McWorter, a professor emeritus of African American studies and of information sciences at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, says “woke” was about having a voice after hundreds of years of Black suffering going back to the African slave trade.

The phrase also popped up in a 1962 essay by novelist William Melvin Kelley for the New York Times. The headline — “If You’re Woke, You Dig It.” Kelley’s widow and daughter believe he heard the term while walking around their Harlem neighborhood, said Elijah Watson, a pop culture writer and editor who has written about Kelley, who died in 2017.

‘Woke’ reawakening

In the 21st century, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu is often credited with reviving the term “woke.” Her song “Master Teacher” on her 2008 album, “New Amerykah: Part One,” includes the refrain “I stay woke.” Badu picked up the phrase from co-writer and producer Georgia Anne Muldrow, who heard it from a saxophone player she collaborated with — Lakecia Benjamin.

The 2014 fatal shooting by a white police officer of 18-year-old Michael Brown — who was Black and unarmed — in Ferguson, Mo., made “woke” and “stay woke” galvanizing pledges in the growing Black Lives Matter movement.

The movement drew support from other racial groups. “Woke” also became popularized by white liberals who wanted to show they were allies.

The war on woke

The backlash against “woke” and “wokeness” bubbled up in the 2010s, amid discussions about including more Black history in American history lessons. Many people said that bringing “critical race theory” to schools was meant to program children to feel guilty for being white.

This argument became front and center in 2022 when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” into law. It banned teaching or business practices on race and gender. (The law is now on hold after a federal judge deemed it unconstitutional).

For George Pearson, a former chair of the Illinois Black Republican Coalition, “woke” is a hollow word.

Democratic politicians who purport to be “champions” of wokeness and DEI have done little for Black people, he said. So, “woke” has no sway as a rallying cry. He also thinks it’s unfair that those who do not support “woke-ism” are told “’you’re racist. You’re a homophobe. You’re a bigot.”

Even among liberal Black Americans, there is a debate whether the intention of “woke” does more harm than good.

Who says woke now?

In Watson’s experience, “woke” is no longer part of Black vernacular. If he hears it from anyone in his social circles, it’s almost always said “in jest.”

Some progressives are trying to take the word back. Academy Award-winning actor and activist Jane Fonda brought up being “woke” while receiving the Screen Actors Guild lifetime achievement award in front of an A-list audience.

“Make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke. By the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people,” Fonda said.

Seena Hodges started her own business as a DEI strategist for individuals and groups in 2018 and called it the Woke Coach. She and her team consult on everything from workplace interactions to best recruiting practices. She touches on inclusion for groups from people of color to breastfeeding mothers.

The “bastardization” of “woke” and DEI as words akin to slurs doesn’t bother her, she said. To her, at its core being “woke” is about awareness.

“What it really boils down to is helping people develop a more acute level of emotional intelligence,” she said.

Tang writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Christopher Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.

In a town where you can make your own luck or can sink further into an abyss, Mater Dei High dug deep, wiped away memories from a loss last week and answered a gut-check call to come away with a 27-24 road victory over Bishop Gorman on Friday night. Coach Raul Lara brought up the word “resurrection” during a postgame huddle with his players.

The win surely resurrects Mater Dei’s season. It was doom and gloom one week ago when the Monarchs fell behind 28-0 to Corona Centennial, then rallied but lost 43-36. Seven turnovers left everyone wondering if the Monarchs were no longer a top team after being ranked No. 1 in the nation by several organizations.

Friday’s performance against an unbeaten Bishop Gorman team saw Mater Dei turn to two of its preseason All-Americans on offense, tight end Mark Bowman and receiver Chris Henry Jr. Bowman had touchdown catches of 29 and 36 yards. Henry had two touchdown catches, including the game-winner with 6:06 left from 37 yards.

Quarterback Ryan Hopkins, bouncing back from turnovers last week, kept firing away against a strong Bishop Gorman defense, getting the ball to his outstanding receivers and not letting penalties or an interception reduce his confidence.

“It’s facing adversity,” Hopkins said. “Last week was a tough one. This is a step forward. It’s next-play mentality.”

There were ominous black clouds passing above that let out a dose of rain more than three hours before kickoff, but the weather cleared and the Monarchs didn’t have to put up with the downpour and lightning delay that St. John Bosco endued in 2014 during a 34-31 loss to Bishop Gorman.

It was an entertaining first half that ended in a 14-14 tie. Both teams missed scoring opportunities. Mater Dei blocked a Bishop Gorman field-goal attempt that was returned by Aaryan Washington to the 13-yard line, then had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Jerry Shifman. Bishop Gorman forced a fumble by Hopkins, and Prince Williams returned it for a touchdown that was nullified by defensive holding.

Soon Hopkins connected with Henry on a 54-yard pass to the one-yard line in the final seconds. But a Mater Dei illegal procedure penalty and little time left the Monarchs to settle for a 23-yard field goal to tie the score.

Mater Dei (3-1) had zero penalties in the first quarter, a major improvement from previous games, but the Monarchs went back to making mistakes after that. There was an offsides on a fourth-and-short play. There was a five-yard penalty before kicking off the ball. Through all that, the Monarchs persevered.

“Great game,” Lara said. “Two great teams and great programs. We knew it was going to be a fight. I’m proud of my guys.”

Bishop Gorman quarterback Maika Eugenio was effective moving in the pocket to get the ball to his top receivers and passed for two touchdowns. Massiah Ming had receptions of 62 and 38 yards.

Mater Dei hasn’t lost more than one game in season since 2014, so the pressure was on.

“It’s finding that chemistry and continuing to grind,” Lara said. “I think all the games are going to be like this. Everyone is gunning for us.”

Bowman, the USC commit who reclassified from junior to senior to begin his college career next year, finally got the opportunity to show off his receiving skills. He came in with only seven catches in three games but was left open several times, and Hopkins made Bishop Gorman pay. Hopkins said Bowman has been making an equal impact with his blocking.

“He’s putting everything on the line every play,” Hopkins said.

One of the stars on defense for Mater Dei was linebacker Ezekiel Su’a. He had a sack and also deflected one of Eugenio’s passes in a key second-half play.

The Monarchs are off next week before opening Trinity League play against Orange Lutheran on Oct. 3. Bishop Gorman comes to Southern California next Saturday for another Trinity League matchup against Santa Margarita at Trabuco Hills.

This win means the mojo is back for the Monarchs. This was an improved performance that needs to be sustained for their regular-season finale against St. John Bosco on Halloween and possible matchup against unbeaten Sierra Canyon or a rematch with Centennial in the Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.

Stadium lights were flashing on and off Friday night after the latest Corona Centennial touchdown against No. 1-ranked Mater Dei in the first half of a 43-36 Huskies victory, and fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing. One overjoyed Husky fan shouted, “Mater Dei who?”

It was Centennial 28-0 after the first quarter and 33-7 at halftime. Defensive end Jonathan McKinley of Centennial was making a bunch of college-bound offensive linemen look confused and ineffective with two sacks and a pressure rush on quarterback Ryan Hopkins that produced a pick six by Jaden Walk-Green.

Then came the strangest 12-minute third quarter — Mater Dei dominated with a 29-0 outburst to take a 36-33 lead. As if the game couldn’t get wilder, the fourth quarter saw Centennial rally to finish a historic victory.

It was the first time Mater Dei has been beaten by a Southern Section team other than St. John Bosco since Centennial did it 10 years ago en route to a Division 1 championship. Guess who were stars on that team —quarterback Anthony Catalano and receiver Javon McKinley. On Friday night, it was their younger brothers leading the way.

McKinley had three sacks and recovered a fumble. Dominick Catalano, playing quarterback like big bro, displayed toughness and leadership throughout.

“This was for him,” McKinley said of his brother watching from the bleachers. “From the spring, I’ve been practicing every night for this game. I’ve had dreams about this game.”

It was the first loss for coach Raul Lara since he took over as Mater Dei head coach last season. He came in 16-0.

Mater Dei lost two fumbles, had an interception and another fumble resulted in a Centennial safety, all in the first half. Mater Dei finished with five fumbles and two interceptions.

Corona Centennial quarterback Dominick Catalano flies through the air carrying the football against Mater Dei.

(Craig Weston)

“It’s awesome,” Dominick Catalano said. “It’s an incredible feeling.”

It was victory No. 298 for future Hall of Fame coach Matt Logan, who said, “I had a dream we were up 21-0 and I woke up and was so excited.”

Mater Dei caught fire in the third quarter. A one-yard touchdown run by Justin Lewis was followed by a 42-yard touchdown run by Hopkins and a 76-yard touchdown reception by Kayden Dixon-Wyatt. When Kennie Leggett scored on a one-yard run, Mater Dei’s comeback was complete for a 33-30 lead.

But Walk-Green, who returned a pick six in the first quarter, made his second field goal of the night from 36 yards to tie the score. Then Mater Dei’s fifth fumble gave the Huskies the ball on the Mater Dei 31. Soon Centennial faced a fourth-and-10 from the 31. Catalano connected with Keawe Browne for a 12-yard pass. That kept the drive alive and enabled Malaki Davis to score on a four-yard run to take the lead with 2:27 left.

“This proves how good we are,” Browne said. “We played our hearts out. I did all my training in the offseason. I was watching for my moment.”

Kayden Dixon-Wyatt of Mater Dei leaps trying to catch pass, but Jaden Walk-Green came down with the game-clinching interception for Corona Centennial.

(Craig Weston)

Centennial (3-1) clinched the win with Walk-Green’s second interception, taking the ball away from Dixon-Wyatt as the two came down with both holding onto the ball. The officials ruled in favor of Walk-Green. So began a Centennial celebration repeated from 10 years ago when another Catalano led the Huskies to victory.

“It’s a Catalano thing,” Dominick said.

Mater Dei (3-1) received 248 yards passing from Hopkins, but the repeated mistakes, from fumbles to personal-foul penalties, left the Monarchs hardly looking like the No 1 team in California and facing a new challenge next week with a trip to Las Vegas to face Bishop Gorman.

It’s only the fourth week of the season, but Centennial’s victory changes the equation in Southern California high school football similar to when Servite knocked off St. John Bosco in the Division 1 playoffs in 2021. It’s been Mater Dei and St. John Bosco on a nine-year run winning championships. The Huskies put a little bit of uncertainty for 2025.

Dominick Catalano waited four years to be the starting quarterback at Corona Centennial. He’s taken control of a team that’s 2-1 and facing No. 1 Mater Dei at home on Friday night.

Catalano, though, got a start in the season opener last season because of an injury to Husan Longstreet and made the most of his debut against one of the best defenses in the state — Mater Dei. He completed 17 of 32 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions in a 42-25 loss.

He’s more mature and confident going into Friday’s game. He still gets all A’s on his report card and is headed to Pomona-Pitzer, which isn’t exactly easy to get into.

His brother, Anthony, served as Centennial’s interim coach two weeks ago against Santa Margarita, and the Catalano brothers almost pulled off a victory in overtime.

Coach Matt Logan appreciated Dominick’s loyalty waiting his turn to be a starter, but it was inevitable. He’s a former Centennial ball boy. He’s passed for 757 yards and eight touchdowns and must deal with the expected Mater Dei pass rush on Friday.

It’s the third Trinity League team the Huskies are playing in nonleague games, having beaten Servite and lost to Santa Margarita.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Bishop Montgomery told officials at Mater Dei on Monday that it will not be able to play its scheduled football game Friday at Santa Ana Stadium, thus forfeiting to the No. 1-ranked Monarchs.

Numerous Bishop Montgomery players are subject to possible one-game suspensions for leaving the bench with 24 seconds left on Saturday in Honolulu during a 24-17 loss to St. Louis, another Catholic school.

The Southern Section assigned its South Bay officials unit on Monday to review video to determine which Bishop Montgomery players had left the bench, which would be a violation of CIF rules.

It has been a rough start for Bishop Montgomery, which already had five players declared ineligible by the Southern Section after a violation of bylaw 202, which involves providing false information after transferring.

Mater Dei opened its season Saturday with a victory in Florida and will move to 2-0 on the season. Bishop Montgomery drops to 0-2.

No. 1-ranked Mater Dei opened its high school football season on Saturday in Florida looking every bit as good as last season when the Monarchs went unbeaten despite lots of mistakes in the second half.

New quarterback Ryan Hopkins threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter en route to a 26-23 victory over Ft. Lauderdale Aquinas, which has won six straight Florida state titles. Chris Henry Jr. caught two of them, covering 22 and 82 yards. Gavin Honore had a 62-yard touchdown reception.

Mater Dei scored 26 consecutive points after falling behind 3-0 in the first quarter. They led 26-3 at halftime. But the Monarchs went scoreless in the second half.

The Monarchs were hardly perfect, leaving coach Raul Lara plenty to work on. They had two interceptions in the first half that ended with turnovers on fumbles during the returns. Twice the Monarchs botched point-after attempts. There were numerous 15-yard personal foul penalties for taunting, late hits, grabbing the face mask and a horse collar. They had 13 penalties for 140 yards through three quarters.

The defense did what it has been doing well for years — stopping the run. USC commit Tomuhini Topui had a sack and Shaun Scott, another USC commit, was adding pressure at the linebacker position. Danny Lang led the secondary with two pass breakups.

Aquinas had fourth and goal from the one-yard line to start the fourth quarter and failed on a fumble trying to run up the middle to cut a 26-10 deficit. But Hopkins was soon intercepted. Aquinas scored on a quarterback option play by Mason Mallory to close to within 26-16 with 9:44 left. Then it was 26-23 on a touchdown pass with 1:36 left until Mater Dei ran out the clock.

Hopkins finished with 272 yards passing. Henry had four catches for 134 yards.

The Monarchs next make their home debut on Friday in a game that will likely result in a running clock. They face Bishop Montgomery, which lost five transfers to ineligibility.

Mater Dei was one of three Trinity League teams opening in Florida. St. John Bosco won 31-0 on Friday night in a game halted at halftime because of lightning. There was also lightning for Mater Dei’s game that delayed the start by one hour. Orange Lutheran was playing Saturday night against Miami Northwestern.

Three other Trinity League teams — Santa Margarita, JSerra and Servite — all lost nonleague openers on Friday.

WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court said Thursday the Trump administration may cancel hundreds of health research grants that involve diversity, equity and inclusion or gender identity.

The justices granted an emergency appeal from President Trump’s lawyers and set aside a Boston’s judge order that blocked the canceling of $783 million in research grants.

The justices split 5-4. Chief Justice John G. Roberts joined the court’s three liberals in dissent and said the district judge had not overstepped his authority.

The court’s conservative majority has repeatedly sided with the administration and against federal judges in disputes over spending and staffing at federal agencies.

In the latest case, the majority agreed that Trump and his appointees may decide on how to spend health research funds allocated by Congress.

Upon taking office in January, Trump issued an executive order “ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”

A few weeks later, the acting director of the National Institutes of Health said the agency would no longer fund “low-value and off-mission research programs, including but not limited to studies based on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and gender identity.”

More than 1,700 grants were canceled.

Trump’s lawyers told the court NIH had terminated grants to study “Buddhism and HIV stigma in Thailand”; “intersectional, multilevel and multidimensional structural racism for English- and Spanish-speaking populations”; and “anti-racist healing in nature to protect telomeres of transitional age BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and People of Color] for health equity.”

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and his counterparts from 15 Democratic-led states had sued to halt what they called an “unprecedented disruption to ongoing research.” They were joined by groups of researchers and public health advocates.

The state attorneys said their public universities were using grant money for “projects investigating heart disease, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, alcohol and substance abuse, mental-health issues, and countless other health conditions.”

They said NIH had terminated a grant for a University of California study examining how inflammation, insulin resistance, and physical activity affect Alzheimer’s disease in Black women, a group with higher rates and a more aggressive profile of the disease.

Also terminated they said was a University of Hawaiʻi study that aimed to identify genetic and biological risk factors for colorectal cancer among Native Hawaiians, a population with increased incidence and mortality rates of that disease.

In June, the Democratic state attorneys won a ruling from U.S. District Judge William G. Young, a Reagan appointee. He said the sudden halt to research grants violated a federal procedural law because it was “arbitrary” and poorly explained.

He said Trump had required agencies “to focus on eradicating anything that it labels as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”), an undefined enemy.” He said he had tried and failed to get a clear definition of DEI and what it entailed.

When the 1st Circuit Court refused to lift the judge’s order, Trump’s Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer appealed to the Supreme Court in late July.

He noted the justices in April had set aside a similar decision from a Boston-based judge who blocked the new administration’s canceling of education grants.

The solicitor general argued that Trump’s order rescinded an executive order from President Biden in 2021 that mandated “an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda” and instructed federal agencies to “allocate resources to address the historic failure to invest sufficiently, justly, and equally in underserved communities.”

He said the new administration decided these DEI-related grants “do nothing to expand our knowledge of living systems, provide low returns on investment, and ultimately do not enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness.”

Convincing young Black people to become cops long been a tough sell at summer job fairs.

But in recent months the pool of recruits at the Los Angeles Police Department has shriveled to the point of running dry. The last two training academy classes haven’t included a single a Black graduate.

Despite offering generous pay and pensions, police agencies across the country have struggled since the pandemic with finding enough new officers regardless of race.

At the LAPD, the number of Black recruits — especially women — has been dropping for years, leaving the department far short of diversity goals put in place decades ago to counter discriminatory hiring practices.

Compounding matters is President Trump, who has embarked on a far-reaching campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, or so-called DEI policies.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell quietly shut down the department’s DEI program during an administrative reshuffling this year. Massive cuts to federal agencies and university programs have some officials sounding alarms about a ripple effect in police hiring.

The Oscar Joel Bryant Assn., which represents the LAPD’s 700 or so Black officers, said conversations about responding to attacks on pro-diversity programs “do not need to wait for the future.”

“[T]hose concerns are here today for all groups,” Capt. Capt. Shannon Enox-White, the association’s president, said in a statement. “When we swore an oath to protect the Constitution and the organization’s very mission statement elevates DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) principles, I do not see how we can step away from them now or ever.”

Privately, some Black department officials expressed frustration with recent promotions announced by McDonnell. Only one Black leader moved up in rank. Emada Tingirides, a finalist for the police chief job is now the first Black woman in the department’s long history to hold the rank of assistant chief.

Many of the department’s older Black officers — who joined the force during a hiring push in the 1980s and ‘90s — are now nearing retirement. Several high-ranking Black LAPD officials, including Tingirides and Deputy Chiefs Gerald Woodyard and Alan Hamilton, have already enrolled in the deferred retirement program, meaning they probably will exit before the 2028 Olympic Games in L.A.

The department’s percentage of Black officers has dipped slightly to roughly 8% of the force, just below the percentage of Black city residents.

Diversity issues aside, the LAPD has grappled with other issues when it comes to finding and retaining cops of the future. The hiring process typically takes 250 days to complete after the background check, polygraph screening and a series of tests that each applicant is required to undergo. LAPD officials have said some exasperated candidates have opted to pursue opportunities with other agencies where the wait isn’t nearly as long.

But for some already in the department, the most glaring problem is a lack of support for Black people in uniform. They point to the quiet closure of the DEI office, whose staff members were reassigned and duties absorbed by other units. Proponents considered it a crucial support system for younger Black cops.

Without such support, they say, Black officers will be less likely to receive the professional development or opportunities to work in specialized units that can lead to supervisory roles.

Others argue that stories about the internal mistreatment of Black officers keep people from applying. This year, an officer from the department’s recruitment unit filed a complaint alleging he had recorded racist, sexist and homophobic comments by colleagues, which McDonnell and other officials condemned and pledged to investigate.

Over the last decade, the department has paid out more than $10 million in settlements or jury awards for officers alleging that they were discriminated against based on their race.

Like the city it polices, the LAPD has seen its demographics change dramatically in recent decades. With the department prodded by lawsuits and consent decrees, more than half of the once mostly white force is now Latino. But the number of Black cops — especially women — hasn’t budged much.

Some police critics said that increasing diversity alone isn’t a fix for larger, systemic issues with policing.

But a succession of LAPD leaders have said that diversifying the agency’s ranks is a priority, arguing that doing so can counter generations of distrust of police by Black Angelenos. Still, progress has been slow. A 2022 study by UCLA researchers revealed strong resistance within the department toward efforts to hire more women and officers of color.

Since the start of his second term in office, Trump has called diversity hiring efforts “illegal,” encouraging federal agencies to investigate and withhold funds from institutions that promote DEI practices.

Ivonne Roman of the Center for Policing Equity, a nonprofit think tank based at Yale University, said the president’s anti-affirmative orders will undoubtedly undercut efforts to turn the tide on declining Black officer numbers nationwide.

Even though most local police departments aren’t as dependent on federal funding as, say, public universities, police executives may feel less pressure to diversify their agencies in the current social climate, she said.

Steps such as the dismissal of Biden-era civil rights lawsuits that accused police departments of hiring disparities could embolden discrimination, she said.

“It’s going to have chilling effect,” Roman said.

WASHINGTON — Slightly less than half of U.S. adults believe that Black people face “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of discrimination in the United States, according to a poll. That’s a decline from the solid majority, 60%, who thought Black Americans faced high levels of discrimination in the spring of 2021, months after racial reckoning protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd.

Significant numbers of Americans also think diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, also known as DEI, are backfiring against the groups they’re intended to help, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, including many people who belong to those groups.

The findings suggest Americans’ views on racial discrimination have shifted substantially since four years ago, when many companies launched efforts to promote diversity within their workforces and the products they sold.

Since then, many of those companies have reversed themselves and retreated from their diversity practices, a trend that’s accelerated this year under pressure from President Trump, a Republican who has sought to withhold federal money from schools and companies that promote DEI.

Now, it’s clear that views are changing as well as company policies.

Claudine Brider, a 48-year-old Black Democrat in Compton, California, says the concept of DEI has made the workplace difficult for Black people and women in new ways.

“Anytime they’re in a space that they’re not expected to be, like seeing a Black girl in an engineering course … they are seen as only getting there because of those factors,” Brider said. “It’s all negated by someone saying, ‘You’re only here to meet a quota.’”

Reversal in views of racial discrimination

The poll finds 45% of U.S. adults think Black people face high levels of discrimination, down from 60% in the spring of 2021. There was a similar drop in views about the prevalence of serious discrimination against Asian people, which fell from 45% in the 2021 poll — conducted a month after the Atlanta spa shootings, which killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent — to 32% in the current survey.

There’s no question the country has backtracked from its “so-called racial reckoning” and the experiences of particular groups such as Black people are being downplayed, said Phillipe Copeland, a professor at Boston University School of Social Work.

Americans’ views about discrimination haven’t shifted when it comes to all groups, though. Just under half of U.S. adults, 44%, now say Hispanic people face at least “quite a bit of discrimination,” and only 15% say this about white people. Both numbers are similar to when the question was last asked in April 2021.

Divisions on the impact of DEI on Black and Hispanic people

The poll indicates that less than half of Americans think DEI has a benefit for the people it’s intended to help.

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say DEI reduces discrimination against Black people, while about one-third say this about Hispanic people, women and Asian people. Many — between 33% and 41% — don’t think DEI makes a difference either way. About one-quarter of U.S. adults believe that DEI actually increases discrimination against these groups.

Black and Hispanic people are more likely than white people to think DEI efforts end up increasing discrimination against people like them.

About 4 in 10 Black adults and about one-third of Hispanic adults say DEI increases discrimination against Black people, compared with about one-quarter of white adults. There is a similar split between white adults and Black and Hispanic adults on assessments of discrimination against Hispanic people.

Among white people, it’s mostly Democrats who think DEI efforts reduce discrimination against Black and Hispanic people. Only about one-quarter of white independents and Republicans say the same.

Pete Parra, a 59-year-old resident of Gilbert, Ariz., thinks that DEI is making things harder for racial minorities now. He worries about how his two adult Hispanic sons will be treated when they apply for work.

“I’m not saying automatically just give it to my sons,” said Parra, who leans toward the Democratic Party. But he’s concerned that now factors other than merit may take priority.

“If they get passed over for something,” he said, “they’re not going to know (why).”

About 3 in 10 say DEI increases discrimination against white people

The poll shows that Americans aren’t any more likely to think white people face discrimination than they were in 2021. And more than half think DEI doesn’t make a difference when it comes to white people or men.

But a substantial minority — about 3 in 10 U.S. adults — think DEI increases discrimination against white people. Even more white adults, 39%, hold that view, compared with 21% of Hispanic adults and 13% of Black adults.

The recent political focus on DEI has included the idea that white people are more often overlooked for career and educational opportunities because of their race.

John Bartus, a 66-year-old registered Republican in Twin Falls, Idaho, says that DEI might have been “a good thing for all races of people, but it seems like it’s gone far left.” It’s his impression that DEI compels companies to hire people based on their race or if they identify as LGBTQ+.

“The most qualified person ought to get a job based on their merit or based on their educational status,” Bartus said.

Brider, the Black California resident, objects to the notion that white people face the same level of discrimination as Black people. But while she thinks the aims of DEI are admirable, she also sees the reality as flawed.

“I do think there needs to be something that ensures that there is a good cross-section of people in the workplace,” Brider said. “I just don’t know what that would look like, to be honest.”

Tang and Thomson-Deveaux write for the Associated Press. The AP-NORC poll of 1,437 adults was conducted July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

July 29 (UPI) — The Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into Duke University amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher-learning institutions as it seeks to rid the private and public sector of diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The civil rights investigation was launched Monday into not only Duke but its law journal for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allegedly discriminating against students based on race.

The investigation coincides with the departments of Education and Health and Human Services sending a joint letter to Duke University outlining their “shared concerns” about its use of race in its hiring, admissions and scholarship decisions.

“If Duke illegally gives preferential treatment to law journal or medical school applicants based on those students’ immutable characteristics, that is an affront not only to civil rights law, but to the meritocratic character of academic excellence,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.

“Blatantly discriminatory practices that are illegal under the Constitution, anti-discrimination law and Supreme Court precedent have become all too common in our education institutions. The Trump administration will not allow them to continue.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI, is a conceptual framework that promotes fair treatment and full participation of all people. It has been a target of conservatives who claim it focuses on race and gender at the expense of merit.

Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has sought to remove DEI from the federal government and has threatened to revoke federal funding from several universities, including Harvard, over their alleged DEI programs.

Dozens of schools have been the target of Trump administration civil rights investigations over DEI policies and practices. It has also launched investigations into schools over allowing transgender students to compete in women’s sporting competitions, for not protecting Jewish students amid pro-Palestine protests and for providing migrants with scholarship opportunities denied to out-of-state Americans.

Several of the schools have reached multimillion-dollar settlements with the Trump administration to resolve the civil rights investigations, including Columbia, which, earlier this month, agreed to pay $200 million to the federal government and end its DEI policies.

The investigation launched Monday accuses Duke’s law review of awarding extra points in its editor application process to personal statements that explain how the applicant’s membership in an underrepresented group promotes diverse voices.

In the joint letter from the Department of Education and HHS, they accuse Duke University School of Medicine of employing practices that “include illegal and wrongful racial preferences and discriminatory activity in recruitment, student admissions, scholarships and financial aid, mentoring and enrichment programs, hiring, promotion and more.”

No specifics were given.

“The immediate request is simple: Review all policies and practices at Duke Health for the illegal use of race preferences, take immediate action to reform all of those that unlawfully take account of race or ethnicity to bestow benefits or advantages and provide clear and verifiable assurances to the government that Duke’s new policies will be implemented faithfully going forward,” the letter said.

The departments called on the school to form a committee to carry out the Trump administration’s request over a six-month period. Duke has 10 days to respond, it said.

The departments said federal funding to the school was at risk.

David Ellison’s Skydance Media pledged to abandon all diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Paramount Global in an attempt to win government approval for its $8-billion merger.

Paramount already had scaled back diversity programs earlier this year. In a Tuesday letter to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, Skydance said it would go further to cancel diversity efforts.

“Paramount no longer will maintain an Office of Global Inclusion and will not have any teams or individual roles focused on DEI,” Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, Skydance general counsel, wrote in the three-page letter to Carr. The appointee of President Trump, in one of his first moves as chair, dismantled the agency’s diversity programs and called on companies to do the same.

Kyoko McKinnon said Paramount will remove “references to DEI in its public messaging, including on its websites and social media,” along with culling DEI language in “internal messaging and training materials.”

Last week, Ellison met with Carr to press his case that Skydance and its backer RedBird Capital Partners would be strong stewards of Paramount, which includes CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, BET and the Melrose Avenue movie studio, Paramount Pictures. Skydance needs Carr’s approval for the merger and the transfer of the CBS television station licenses to the Ellison family.

Skydance separately tackled persistent complaints by conservatives about alleged news bias at “60 Minutes” and other programs.

Ellison’s firm pledged to “promote transparency and increased accountability” at CBS News. The company said it would install an ombudsman, reporting to the president of Paramount, “to receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS” for at least two years.

Trump’s ire over edits of a “60 Minutes” Kamala Harris interview last fall nearly derailed Skydance’s takeover of Paramount. Carr opened an inquiry into alleged news distortion after Trump sued CBS in federal court in Texas.

Earlier this month, Paramount reached a $16-million settlement with Trump to resolve the dispute that caused deep divisions within Paramount and prompted high-level CBS departures. Trump boasted Tuesday on Truth Social that he anticipates receiving an additional $20 million worth of advertising and PSA time from the new owners.

During his July 15 meeting with Carr, Ellison underscored “Skydance’s commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS’s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers,” according to an FCC filing.

Skydance’s Kyoko McKinnon added: “We further reaffirm that, after consummation of the proposed transaction, New Paramount’s new management will ensure that the company’s array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum, consistent with the varying perspectives of the viewing audience.”

Ellison recently met with prominent journalist Bari Weiss, reportedly to discuss Skydance acquiring her center-right online publication, the Free Press, as an alternative to traditional news sites. She started the outlet, which is often critical of DEI, after quitting her job as a New York Times opinion writer, citing intolerance of her and her more conservative viewpoints.

Also last week, late-night host Stephen Colbert learned his CBS talk show would be canceled in May. CBS has said Colbert’s cancellation, which will take place in May, was “strictly financial” and not related to the merger approval. Still, conservatives and liberals have widely questioned whether Colbert’s frequent criticisms of Trump played into the decision.

Skydance has said it didn’t have a role in the Colbert decision.

Skydance isn’t the only company under pressure to ditch diversity programs to win FCC approval for a deal.

Two months ago, telecommunications giant Verizon pledged to drop diversity efforts to gain Carr’s blessing for the company’s $20-billion takeover of Frontier Communications.

Carr separately launched probes into Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp.’s workplace diversity efforts.

After George Floyd’s 2020 murder in Minneapolis, Paramount and other Hollywood companies vowed to hire more people of color. Such moves were cheered by many, including those cognizant of Hollywood’s troubled history with diversity.

Paramount encouraged executives to make diverse hires and promotions, and progress toward the corporate goals was one of many factors considered when calculating bonuses. That program was dismantled last year.

For years, CBS struggled to shake its prime-time sitcom formula to build shows around white men, a la “King of Queens,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Two and a Half Men.”

The network broke the pattern in 2018 with “The Neighborhood,” starring Cedric the Entertainer, and procedural drama “FBI,” starring Zeeko Zaki.

CBS also championed mentorship programs for writers and directors to build a more diverse pipeline of creators. That initiative dated to 2004.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has made a priority of abolishing DEI programs.

(Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Skydance promised not to set numerical goals related to race, ethnicity or gender of job applicants.

“The company is committed to ensuring that its storytelling reflects the many audiences and communities it serves in a manner that complies with non-discrimination requirements and other applicable laws,” Kyoko McKinnon wrote.

“I am very encouraged by today’s announcements,” said Daniel Suhr, president of the conservative Center for American Rights, which filed an FCC complaint about “60 Minutes” and suggested a CBS News ombudsman. “These are important steps towards better broadcasting that serves all consumers.”

“Welcome home.”

A Long Beach Poly assistant football coach offered a warm greeting to Mater Dei football coach Raul Lara on Saturday morning before the start of a summer passing tournament at Poly.

Lara, a Poly graduate who won five Southern Section championships in 13 seasons as the Jackrabbits’ head coach, was struck by some of the changes he saw, such as an all-weather sports field and bungalows on the old baseball field. The school has begun a $450-million construction project.

“I haven’t been here in a while,” Lara said. “They’re doing a lot of reconstruction. It’s pretty neat. It will be interesting when it’s completed. We didn’t have this. We had a dirt track, regular grass field. We used to have a pole by those two trash cans and we had a coach, Don Norford, that every time he yelled, ‘Hit the pole,’ everybody knew they were in trouble.”

Lara won a Southern Section Division 1 title and state championship last season in his first year at Mater Dei, and his team is a heavy favorite to repeat thanks to strong offensive and defensive lines as well as a receiving group that includes receiver Chris Henry Jr., who has commited to Ohio State, and tight end Mark Bowman, who has committed to USC.

“That group is special,” he said of his receiver group that includes Ohio State commit Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, Georgia commit Gavin Honore and senior Koen Parnell.

Still to be decided is who starts at quarterback, with Wisconsin commit Ryan Hopkins competing with Minnesota commit Furian Inferrera. Asked if he could end up playing both, Lara said it was possible.

Asked if he was still having fun, Lara said, “It’s a different kind of fun. It’s more of a CEO fun. I have an awesome staff. All I do is make sure it’s functioning. They do a fantastic job.”

Saturday’s competition featured a rarity in that three outstanding tight ends were in the spotlight — Bowman, a USC commit; Andre Nickerson of Inglewood, an Southern Methodist commit; Jaden Hernandez of Poly, a Colorado State commit. Defensive backs were pushing and shoving and the tight ends were having none of that.

Long Beach Poly tight end Jaden Hernandez makes a catch.

(Craig Weston)

Mayfair has two college-bound defensive backs in Chaz Gilbreath (UC Davis) and Miles Mitchell (Air Force). Mitchell has a 4.5 grade-point average.

Poly’s Donte Wright is a junior cornerback committed to Georgia with a big upside because he’s 6 feet 2 and still growing with track speed. The Jackrabbits made it to the final of their tournament before losing to Mater Dei.

Teams are winding down their summer seven-on-seven passing tournament schedules. Coaches are starting to pass out shoulder pads because official practice begins July 28.

July 11 (UPI) — T-Mobile announced it will scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion policy on Friday, while it awaits Federal Communications Commission approval to buy U.S. Cellular for $4.4 million.

The company, owned by German company Deutsche Telekom, is the second-largest wireless operator in the United States. It’s trying to buy most of U.S. Cellular and Internet service provider Metronet.

“T-Mobile will no longer have any individual roles or teams focused on DEI,” the company said. “T-Mobile is also removing any references to DEI on its websites and will ensure that company websites and future communications do not have any references to DEI.”

The FCC follows an informal timeline of 180 days to review mergers. The T-Mobile/U.S. Cellular deal is on day 253.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr said on X that the move was “another good step forward for equal opportunity, nondiscrimination, and the public interest.”

In a letter to Carr, Mark W. Nelson, executive vice president and general counsel for T-Mobile U.S., said, “Our belief then and now is that skills, aptitude, and a growth mindset are what contribute to exceptional performance — and that merit is how you advance at our company, regardless of who you are or where you’re from. Equality of opportunity, performance-based rewards, and ensuring we’re a place where everyone can win as ‘One Team, Together’ — that’s what we intended through some of our practices that were labeled as ‘DEI.'”

The letter said the company reviewed its policies and is “ending its DEI-related policies as described below, not just in name, but in substance.”

The letter goes on to list the different areas T-Mobile is making changes, including:

• Leadership and public messaging
• Hiring and recruitment
• Career development, mentorship and training
• Supplier and vendor diversity, corporate sponsorships and memberships
• Employee resource groups

Carr has told Bloomberg News that “any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”

Anna M. Gomez, a member of the FCC, disparaged T-Mobile’s decision on X: “In yet another cynical bid to win FCC regulatory approval, T-Mobile is making a mockery of its professed commitment to eliminating discrimination, promoting fairness, and amplifying underrepresented voices,” Gomez said. “History will not be kind to this cowardly corporate capitulation.”

Many companies and organizations have backed off their DEI programs to curry favor with the administration of President Donald Trump. Thursday, the Department of Education launched an investigation against George Mason University and its hiring practices. If the agency determines that the university violated the staff’s civil rights, GMU could lose federal funding.

The wireless carrier, which is seeking FCC approval on two deals, bowed the pressure from the White House.

Wireless carrier T-Mobile says it is ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, under pressure from the Trump administration as it seeks regulatory approval for two major deals.

The Washington state-based company said in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, made public on Wednesday, that the wireless company is ending its DEI-related policies “not just in name, but in substance.”

T-Mobile said it will no longer have any individual roles or teams focused on DEI, is removing any references to DEI on its websites, and has removed references to DEI from its employee training materials.

Carr said he was pleased with the changes. “This is another good step forward for equal opportunity, nondiscrimination and the public interest,” according to the news agency Reuters.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, criticised T-Mobile’s action, saying, “In yet another cynical bid to win FCC regulatory approval, T-Mobile is making a mockery of its professed commitment to eliminating discrimination, promoting fairness, and amplifying underrepresented voices.”

T-Mobile is awaiting FCC approval to buy almost all of regional carrier United States Cellular’s wireless operations including customers, stores and 30 percent of its spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4bn, and a separate transaction to establish a joint venture with KKR to acquire internet service provider Metronet, which reaches more than 2 million homes and businesses in 17 states.

Investors did not respond well to the news.  As of 2:30pm ET (18:30 GMT), the company’s stock, traded under the TMUS, is down 1.3 percent since the market opened.

T-Mobile joins a growing list of companies bowing to pressure from the Trump administration that face regulatory approval.

Last week, Paramount agreed to pay a $16m settlement after the president claimed CBS News’ show 60 Minutes misleadingly edited an interview with then Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, as Paramount seeks regulatory approval for the proposed merger with Skydance.

The House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services held a hearing recently about diversity, equity and inclusion. Fewer than five of the 90 minutes were spent talking about healthcare or anything related to money. Instead, conservative lawmakers wasted time and taxpayers’ dollars advancing an anti-DEI agenda with which they have become obsessed. Anecdotes were more interesting to them than were evidence-based truths about the Americans whom discrimination most harms.

Because the GOP comprises the majority in the House, all but one of the four expert witnesses in the hearing were theirs. Like the three other times I had testified on Capitol Hill, I was the lone Democrat. The Republicans’ strategy was familiar: ask a series of yes/no questions that would require contextualization to answer adequately, then interrupt as the witness attempts to provide a nuanced response.

One question for me from Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas): “Should people be treated differently based on their race?” As I had done in my written testimony, I tried to explain to him that Black, Indigenous, Asian American and Latino American people have long been mistreated because of their race, which has led to persistent and pervasive racial inequities that disadvantage them relative to white people. But he apparently did not want to hear any of those facts, because he kept cutting me off, repeatedly declaring that this was a yes or no question.

Gill posed another question to which he did not allow an informative answer: “Do you believe that race should be considered in employer hiring practices?” For centuries, racism and white supremacy have been powerful determinants of who works where, what they are paid, and their opportunities for advancement to leadership in workplaces across industries. Race should not influence employment outcomes, but it too often has and still does.

Because of both implicit and explicit biases, race influences hiring processes across industries. Research makes painstakingly clear, though, that it is white applicants who most often and most lucratively benefit from preferential treatment. People of color and job seekers with ethnic-sounding last names have long been and continue to be routinely discriminated against, a highly cited University of Chicago study shows.

I do not believe that the remedy for discrimination is more discrimination. Instead, strategy and intentionality are both necessary and required to right past and present wrongs in hiring processes. Because the inequities are racialized and gendered, programs and practices ought to deliberately address the mindsets, structures and systems that have routinely locked irrefutably qualified people of color and women out of well-deserved opportunities. Perhaps had I been allowed to answer fully, Gill and I would have found common ground in our opposition to unlawful workplace discrimination.

Corporations, universities and other organizations need high-quality professional learning experiences that help employees who are involved in hiring processes understand how and why white job applicants are typically presumed to be smarter and more qualified than applicants of color. Gill and other opponents of diversity programs need to learn about these particular manifestations of white supremacy too. They also could benefit from exposure to research that shows how workplace racial stratification systems cyclically route the majority of employees of color into the lowest-paid, lowest-authority jobs and lock them out of leadership positions.

Federal statistics show that 77% of managers across all industries are white. Furthermore, 84% of executive-level leaders at Fortune 100 companies are white, according to a Heidrick & Struggles report. If our positions had been reversed and I were the one posing questions, I would have asked Gill about those statistics: Is it that most white people are just that much more talented and deserving than people of color, or could it be something else? In the midst of our chaotic crosstalk, I was able to make the point that I do not believe that white candidates are the only qualified people for jobs.

“I didn’t say that, nobody said that,” Gill replied. “And you’re not going to intimidate me by slandering me as a racist.” I did not say or imply that he was. However, his mistaken presumption is revealing and unsurprising. It sometimes happens — especially among white people — when simplistic or otherwise problematic positions on race are challenged. I was able to make this clear: “And you’re not going to intimidate me by insisting that I called you a racist.” I reminded him that a hearing transcript confirming what I actually said would be made publicly available.

Gill was in search of yes/no responses to his questions. Racism and racial inequities in employment, university admissions and other processes are far more complicated than that. But if he was indeed only interested in simple truths, there are at least two. First, professionals of color and women are systematically passed over for job opportunities and promotions because of their race and gender considerably more often than are their white male counterparts. Second, diversity policies and programs aim to redress such inequities accrued to employees because of their skin color, nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender, disability, weight, accent, sexual orientation and other traits.

Shaun Harper is a professor of education, business and public policy at the University of Southern California and the author of “Let’s Talk About DEI: Productive Disagreements About America’s Most Polarizing Topics.”

A legal group co-founded by Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff and architect of the Trump Administration’s harsh immigration policies, filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Dodgers earlier this week, accusing the team of “engaging in unlawful discrimination under the guise of ‘diversity, equity and inclusion.’”

The lawsuit, filed Monday with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by America First Legal, was first reported Wednesday by The Athletic. The Dodgers declined comment about the complaint, which also named their ownership group, Guggenheim Partners and the Dodgers’ professional groups for employees, such as the Black Action Network and Women’s Opportunity Network.

In a press release, America First claimed the Dodgers’ actions violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

The charges come less than two weeks after the team said they declined to allow federal immigration authorities to use Dodger Stadium parking lots as a staging area for immigration raids around Southern California. A day later the Dodgers committed $1 million to assist families impact by the immigration raids.

American First claims the reigning World Series champions, who visited with President Trump at the White House earlier this season, have violated the law by sponsoring programs geared to women and people of color and by “[e]mbedding diversity, equity and inclusion strategies” into every aspect of the organization.

The group also points to the biography of Mark Walter, the majority owner of the Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, in which it calls Walter a “social-justice advocate.”

The Dodgers and Guggenheim Partners are just the latest organizations to find themselves in the crosshairs of American Legal over their diversity efforts. The group has pursued cases against IBM, the world’s largest industrial research organization, and Johnson & Johnson, a multinational pharmaceutical company, among others.

America First’s complaint focused heavily on a page on the Dodgers website that defines the team’s mission “to create a culture where diverse voices and experiences are valued.” The site outlines efforts to recruit women and people of color, partner with community groups to support racial and social justice and promote heritage events for staff and fans.

“The DEI mission statement indicates that the Dodgers are incorporating DEI into its workplace in quantifiable ways with identifiable goals to achieve ‘success,’ which appears to entail engaging in unlawful discriminatory hiring, training, and recruitment,” America First stated in its complaint.

Jared Rivera of Pico California, one of the groups that have called on the Dodgers to do more for immigrants, told the The Athletic the complaint amounts to retaliation.

“Stephen Miller’s group is dressing up vengeance as legal action,” he said. “Retaliating against the Dodgers for their compassion shows Miller is threatened when the team and its fans stand up for what is moral and right.”

June 27 (UPI) — The Michigan legislature is nearing its July 1 deadline to approve its budget bills but the state House and Senate are at odds over anti-transgender and diversity, equity and inclusion provisions.

Earlier this month, the Republican majority in the Michigan House of Representatives passed budget bills that would penalize schools, universities and community colleges for allowing transgender girls and women to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.

Democrats, with a slim majority in the Senate, passed a different version of a budget proposal late last month. It does not include any such provisions or references to DEI initiatives and girls’ and women’s sports.

Michigan’s school aid budget bill will establish how much state funding public schools and institutions of higher learning will receive in the fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1. Since the two chambers passed different versions of the bill, they must find a compromise to send a final version to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s desk.

“Ultimately, education funding bills need to be passed,” Jonathan Hanson, lecturer in public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, told UPI.

“They have to work out some kind of compromise. How do you meet in the middle with respect to some of this language? It’s not immediately obvious how to compromise on those things.”

The house budget proposes withholding 20% of a school district’s discretionary funding if it is in violation of prohibitions on transgender athletes participating in female sports, having curriculum that “includes race or gender stereotyping” or funding “DEI initiatives.”

The same prohibitions apply to public universities and community colleges. Institutions in violation of these provisions could have 5% of monthly operations installments withheld by the state budget director.

The proposals cite President Donald Trump‘s executive orders “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” and “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” as supporting federal regulations.

Less than 1% of adults in the United States identify as transgender. A smaller fraction of a percent of minors identify as transgender.

Twenty-seven states have passed laws banning or restricting transgender athletes from participating in the sports that are consistent with their gender identity.

In the 2024-2025 school year, about 175,000 Michigan high school athletes participated in sports, according to the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Two transgender students held waivers to participate and both participated only in fall sports.

“It brings up a lot of ‘whys,'” Jay Kaplan, staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project, told UPI. “Why this inordinate amount of focus? Why does this seem to be a priority?”

Kaplan explained that the athletic association’s waiver system is already a mechanism meant to address concerns people may have regarding student-athlete participation.

“These budgetary provisions, they can be challenged as discriminatory,” Kaplan said. “Our message to these legislators is, ‘Do your job.’ What’s your plan for affordable housing? What’s your plan to bring more businesses to the state and improve the economy?”

The Republican sponsors of the proposals in the house, Rep. Tim Kelly and Rep. Gregory Markkanen, did not respond to requests for comment.

“Our local schools have been asking for the freedom to use state funding how they please, free of overregulation and burdensome government mandates,” Rep. Joseph Pavlov, R-District 64, said in a statement. “Now, thanks to the new budget plan House Republicans have put together, schools are getting exactly that in record amounts of funding. This will go a long way in turning around the decline in educational performance our state has seen for a long time now.”

Kaplan said the political makeup of the legislature and the governor’s office offers some assurance that provisions like the anti-trans house school budget proposal will fail in Michigan. Next year’s midterm elections will be crucial in determining if that level of assurance continues.

“We’re fortunate in Michigan,” Kaplan said. “We’ve done a lot of hard work. The LGBTQ community and allies, we’ve all worked together. Michigan has some very good policies for the LGBTQ. We have explicit civil rights for the LGBTQ. If anyone is singled out, we’re going to challenge it.”

Democrats have a 19 to 18 majority in the Senate with one seat — Senate District 35 — vacant. Whitmer, a Democrat, has the authority to call a special election for the vacant Senate seat, which she has not done.

Republicans took a 58 to 52 majority in the House in the 2024 election. Democrats held a majority in the House chamber since 2023.

Michigan will elect a new governor in 2026 as Whitmer will reach her term limit.

“What we’re seeing from the Republican side is the incorporation of national Republican policy coming from the White House regarding things like DEI initiatives and trans athletes,” Hanson said. “The fact that this is entering into state budget policies and money is tied to focusing on a minority group that is really small, it makes it seem like they’re focusing on things that aren’t really problems,”

Saturday is one of those busy days in summer passing competitions for fans to get a sneak peek of the high school football season.

Mission Viejo is hosting a seven-on-seven passing tournament that includes Mater Dei, which will then take its mandatory two-week dead period immediately after the tournament. A matchup of Mission Viejo and quarterback Luke Fahey against Mater Dei’s outstanding defensive backs will be something that’s likely to take place.

Santa Margarita has pulled out from participating in the Mission Viejo tournament and will be replaced by Schurr, which won a tournament earlier this month.

There’s also an eight-team passing tournament at St. John Bosco featuring the Braves, Servite and Gardena Serra, among others. Salinas pulled out and has been replaced by La Sierra in Riverside.

Simi Valley, Redondo Union and Baldwin Park are also hosting tournaments this weekend.

After Saturday, the next big day for passing tournaments is July 12, featuring Huntington Beach Edison’s Battle at the Beach, along with tournaments at Ocean View and Huntington Beach.