Deja Vu: Project 2025 and the Revival of Historical Resistance to Equality

Aug 5 / Dr. Sharon GE Washington
Image Source: abcnews.go.com
In the ongoing struggle for racial equity and social justice, certain patterns of resistance emerge, echoing through history. Resistance to racial equity and societal progress has taken many forms, from legal maneuvers and political campaigns to outright violence and intimidation. Notable examples include the enforcement of Jim Crow laws, the Southern Manifesto, and massive resistance to desegregation. These efforts to maintain racial and social hierarchies have consistently sought to preserve the status quo and obstruct progress toward equality.

One of the most striking contemporary parallels can be drawn between Project 2025, a comprehensive policy proposal by the Heritage Foundation, and the massive resistance to desegregation following the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision.

This blog post explores the similarities between these two efforts to maintain the status quo of racial and social hierarchies in the United States.

The Legacy of Resistance: Historical Context

Jim Crow Laws

Following the Reconstruction era, the southern states implemented Jim Crow laws to enforce racial segregation and maintain white supremacy. These laws mandated separate public facilities for Black and white people, leading to systemic inequality in education, healthcare, and other public services. The enforcement of Jim Crow laws was a clear attempt to resist the societal progress initiated by the Reconstruction amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments), which aimed to grant full citizenship and equal rights to formerly enslaved individuals.

The Southern Manifesto and Massive Resistance

After the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, southern states launched a campaign of massive resistance to prevent desegregation. In 1956, 101 southern congressmen signed the Southern Manifesto, which denounced the Court’s decision and pledged to use all lawful means to reverse it. This manifesto was a rallying cry for preserving segregation and maintaining the racial hierarchy. Massive resistance included legal maneuvers, political tactics, violence, and institutional obstruction to thwart desegregation efforts.

The Civil Rights Movement and Backlash

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s fought against racial segregation and discrimination through nonviolent protest and legal challenges. Despite significant victories, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, resistance persisted. White supremacist groups, political leaders, and even local governments used various tactics to undermine the movement’s progress, from violent reprisals to subtler forms of systemic discrimination.

70 Years Ago: The Southern Manifesto

The Southern Manifesto was signed by 19 U.S. Senators and 82 Representatives, all from the Southern United States. 

The manifesto aimed to garner support for reversing the Supreme Court’s Brown decision. While school segregation laws were among the most visible and enduring of the Jim Crow laws in the South, the manifesto did not cause massive resistance but rather supported ongoing efforts.

Key Quotes:

"The original Constitution does not mention education. Neither does the 14th Amendment nor any other amendment. The debates preceding the submission of the 14th Amendment clearly show that there was no intent that it should affect the system of education maintained by the States." (para. 4)

"This unwarranted exercise of power by the Court, contrary to the Constitution, is creating chaos and confusion in the States principally affected. It is destroying the amicable relations between the white and Negro races that have been created through 90 years of patient effort by the good people of both races. It has planted hatred and suspicion where there has been heretofore friendship and understanding." (para. 11)

"Without regard to the consent of the governed, outside agitators are threatening immediate and revolutionary changes in our public school systems. If done, this is certain to destroy the system of public education in some of the states." (para. 12)
Source: thirteen.org

Remember: During the mid-20th century, the Southern Democratic Party was conservative and pro-segregation, but the Civil Rights Movement and the Democratic Party’s support for civil rights legislation in the 1960s led to political realignment. Republican candidates, notably Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, used the “Southern Strategy” to attract disaffected Southern Democrats by emphasizing states’ rights and opposition to civil rights reforms, effectively shifting many white, conservative voters to the Republican Party.

Project 2025: A Contemporary Parallel

Project 2025, created by the Heritage Foundation, is a nearly 900-page document outlining an ambitious agenda to reshape the federal government and U.S. society. Led by at least 140 former Trump administration officials, it calls for sweeping changes, including the dismantling of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives and affirmative action policies. Although Trump has publicly disavowed the project, the Heritage Foundation boasts that the GOP adopted two-thirds of its 2015 recommendations within a year of Trump’s first term.

Here’s a look at some of the key proposals in Project 2025 and their potential impact:
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Government & Federal Agencies

Privatizing Weather Forecasts:
 • Dissolving NOAA: The project calls for dissolving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and transferring its functions to other agencies or eliminating them entirely.
 • Commercializing NWS: It recommends privatizing the National Weather Service’s forecasting operations, potentially hindering public access to weather data and international weather models.
Restructuring Federal Agencies:
 • Political Appointees: The project suggests replacing up to 50,000 nonpartisan career civil servants with political appointees aligned with the president.
 • Abolishing Agencies: It includes proposals to abolish multiple federal agencies, such as the Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, NOAA, Gender Policy Council, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
 • Renaming Federal Offices: It calls for renaming the Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, to be the "USAID Office of Women, Children, and Families," in order to refocus efforts on promoting traditional family structures.
Defunding Public Broadcasting:
 • Eliminating CPB Funding: The project calls for defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports over 1,500 public television and radio stations.
Rolling Back Climate Policies:
 • Leaving Paris Agreement: The project would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement and shift the Department of Energy’s focus to promoting oil and natural gas.
Overhauling DOJ and FBI:
 • Reforming the DOJ and FBI to focus more on violent crime and aligning with the president’s agenda.
 • Prohibiting the FBI from investigating misinformation or making politically motivated moves.

Social Safety Net

Shrinking the Social Safety Net:
 • Overhauling SNAP: The project proposes making it harder to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), potentially affecting over 10% of the population.
 • Eliminating Head Start: It seeks to end the Head Start program, which provides early childhood education and nutrition services to roughly 800,000 children from low-income families.
 • Capping Medicaid: The plan includes capping federal funding for Medicaid, setting time limits on coverage, and imposing work requirements.

Education

Overhauling Education:
 • Promoting School Choice: Project 2025 emphasizes school choice, barring the teaching of critical race theory, and allowing parents to sue schools for perceived improprieties.
Ending Student Debt Relief:
 • Eliminating PSLF: Project 2025 proposes ending the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and other student loan forgiveness efforts.

Healthcare

Healthcare Reforms:
 • Medicare and Medicaid Changes: While not overturning the Affordable Care Act, the project seeks to impose work requirements for Medicaid and make Medicare Advantage the default option for patients.
• Shrinking the CDC: Project 2025 proposes dividing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into two weaker entities
Restricting Abortion:
 • Revoking FDA Approval: It proposes directing the FDA to revoke its approval of the abortion drug mifepristone and using the Comstock Act to block abortion-related mail.

LGBTQ Rights 

Restricting Transgender Rights:
 • Reinstating Military Ban: The project calls for reinstating the ban on transgender Americans serving in the military.
 • Restricting Gender Identity: It proposes prohibiting public schools from using anything other than birth names and pronouns without parental permission 
Eliminating Gender-Affirming Care:
 • The plan aims to remove anti-discrimination protections under federal healthcare programs, restricting access to gender-affirming care for transgender individuals of all ages.
Eliminating DEI Programs:
 •Slashing Diversity and Inclusion: The project proposes ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in federal government and universities.
Support for Traditional Family Structures:
 • Defining the Family: Supporting nuclear families with a married mother, father, and their children.
 • Protecting Discrimination: Restricting anti-discrimination laws to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity.
Title IX:  • Narrowing Title IX Protections: The project would restrict Title IX protections to “biological sex recognized at birth,” excluding gender identity and sexual orientation. This could severely limit protections for LGBTQ+ individuals in education and healthcare.

Economic Policies 

Reforming the Federal Reserve:
 • Monetary Policy Changes: It proposes significant changes to the Federal Reserve, including potentially eliminating government control over the nation’s money or returning to the gold standard.
Cutting Taxes:
 • Simplified Tax Rates: The project suggests a flat tax rate of 15% for those earning below $168,000 and 30% for higher earners, and lowering the corporate tax rate to 18%.
Foreign Relations:
 • Opposing China: Project 2025 emphasizes a strong stance against China and proposes withdrawing from international organizations that do not align with U.S. interests.

Technology & Free Speech

Banning Adult Entertainment:
 • Outlawing Pornography: It proposes banning pornography, claiming it has no First Amendment protection, and shutting down telecommunications companies that distribute it.
Big Tech Reforms:
 • Banning TikTok and reforming Section 230 to allow laws that punish social media companies for banning or suspending users based on their viewpoints.

The parallels between the massive resistance to desegregation and the proposals in Project 2025 highlight a consistent pattern of resistance to social progress and equity. Both movements seek to maintain existing power structures through legal, political, and institutional means, resisting efforts to promote inclusion and diversity.

The changes proposed in Project 2025 could significantly increase health inequities, particularly affecting low-income families, LGBTQ+ individuals, and marginalized communities. The proposed dismantling of scientific and regulatory agencies would also undermine efforts to address public health crises and environmental challenges, leading to broader societal impacts. 

Healthcare professionals, educators, and social service providers must take an active role in countering the potential impacts of Project 2025.
  • Learn from the historical patterns of resistance to equity and advocate for policies that promote inclusion and justice.
  • Stay informed about policy changes and their implications, engage in advocacy efforts, and collaborate with like-minded organizations to support vulnerable populations.
  • Engage in open dialogue with colleagues, learners, and community members to raise awareness and build collective strategies. Integrate these discussions and action plans into your curriculum to educate and empower the next generation of healthcare providers.


By understanding both the historical context and contemporary challenges, we can develop strategic initiatives, lobby for equitable policies, and ensure that our practices foster a more just and inclusive healthcare system. Leveraging your voice, privilege and actions is essential in protecting and advancing health equity for all communities. Each one of us matters in this work, and together, through education, collaboration, and proactive engagement, we can make significant strides toward a more equitable and inclusive society.

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