“Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.”
– Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1961)
What Is Project 2025?
Project 2025 is a conservative playbook developed with the Heritage Foundation that seeks to radically reshape the federal government. It calls for expanding presidential power, consolidating authority in the executive branch, and rolling back civil and social protections.
Its proposals affect nearly every federal agency — immigration, education, policing, environmental regulations, and racial equity programs. Critics argue that many of its measures could undermine democratic checks and balances and erase decades of progress.
Trump’s Actions Already Mirror Project 2025
Although Donald Trump has tried to publicly distance himself from Project 2025, analysts note that nearly two-thirds of his early executive orders align with or partially mirror its proposals.
Here’s what that looks like — and why Black America should be paying close attention:
1. Ending DEI Programs
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Action: Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” shut down diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives across federal agencies. It dissolved DEI offices and targeted staff.
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Impact: These programs were designed to open doors and dismantle systemic inequities in hiring, contracting, and program delivery. Their elimination means fewer opportunities for Black professionals and other underrepresented groups in federal service.
2. Rescinding Biden-Era Equity Protections
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Action: Executive Order 14148, “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” revoked dozens of Biden-era orders, including:
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EO 13985: Advancing Racial Equity for Underserved Communities
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EO 14074: Police Reform & Accountability
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EO 14096: Environmental Justice for All
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EO 14050: Educational Equity for Black Americans
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Impact: These rescissions wiped out federal initiatives designed to strengthen racial equity, police accountability, and environmental justice. Communities disproportionately impacted by pollution, policing, and underfunded schools are left with fewer protections.
3. Immigration Enforcement Expansion
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Action: In the first 50 days of Trump’s new term, ICE made over 32,000 arrests — nearly the total for all of 2024. By summer 2025, detention centers were holding over 56,000 people per day, a sharp increase from the year before.
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Impact: While ICE does not break down enforcement by race, Afro-Caribbean, African, and Afro-Latino immigrants are disproportionately vulnerable. The detention of Dr. Ian Roberts — a Coppin State alum and now superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools — is a painful reminder of how quickly this can hit home.
4. Purging Equity & Environmental Justice Offices
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Action: Agencies were told to dismantle DEI and environmental justice offices, remove equity language from contracts and grants, and reduce staff.
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Impact: Predominantly Black communities — already facing the realities of environmental racism, toxic pollution, and contaminated water — lose federal advocates who fought for cleaner air, safer housing, and healthier neighborhoods.
5. Department of Education Shifts
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Action: The Department of Education has not been dismantled, but nearly $495 million was reallocated to boost HBCU funding by 48% in FY2025, bringing total funding to $1.38 billion.
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Context: While this appears positive, the money came from cuts to other Minority-Serving Institutions. And HBCUs, along with Black K-12 districts, still rely heavily on Pell Grants, Title I, TRIO, and GEAR UP — all of which could be targeted by future cuts.
Bottom Line
Project 2025 isn’t just a radical blueprint — it’s already being rolled out.
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DEI programs: gone.
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Racial equity orders: rescinded.
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Immigration enforcement: expanded.
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Environmental justice offices: gutted.
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Education funding: reshuffled.
For Black America, the consequences are immediate. From job opportunities to clean air, from police accountability to school funding, the supports our communities rely on are being stripped away piece by piece.
This is the moment Fanon spoke of. Each generation has a mission. We will either fulfill it — or betray it.
