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When President Donald Trump took to last year to call a federal grant program 鈥渞acist鈥 and 鈥渋llegal,鈥 the ramifications were quick.
Nearly $26 million meant for the nonprofit National Digital Inclusion Alliance was never delivered, making it impossible for the digital advocacy organization to pass it on to more than a dozen other organizations and tribes working to teach digital skills and expand internet access. The groups included the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, El Centro Hispano in Arkansas, Portland Community College in Oregon, and Community Service Programs of West Alabama, the NDIA.
The alliance sued and won a partial victory against the Trump administration this summer. In a , U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said the grant program had to continue but agreed with the administration that it was unconstitutional for the government to use race or ethnicity as a basis to award money.
鈥淚t was definitely disappointing,鈥 said Angela Siefer, the executive director of the NDIA, which focuses on improving digital and internet skills nationwide. 鈥淲ith this administration it鈥檚 really worrisome.鈥
Under the decision, the NDIA will need to reapply for grants under a new process that removes the racial and ethnic criteria. A for the new grants opened last month and ends in October.
The NDIA鈥檚 initial grants were meant to go toward digital navigator programs, in which community workers teach technology and internet skills.
The $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, passed by Congress in 2021, the money should benefit, including low-income households, older people, some incarcerated people, rural Americans, veterans, and members of racial or ethnic minority groups.
Rural residents live sicker and die younger on average than people in the rest of the country when they live in counties lacking high-speed internet access and healthcare, an analysis by 杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News found.
Computer Reach, a nonprofit in western Pennsylvania that was slated to receive Digital Equity Act grant money, has cut staff and programs. Executive Director Dave Sevick said his organization, which started in 2001, has refurbished more than 24,000 computers, giving them away to families it finds through schools and churches.
鈥淲e鈥檙e aware that affordability is the biggest issue around, and this doesn鈥檛 make it any better for folks,鈥 Sevick said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e helping a little bit by getting a free computer out to people.鈥
A federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump can鈥檛 unilaterally kill the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act, but he also sided with the administration by saying using race as a factor in awarding the grants is unconstitutional. The split decision has halted digital-skills programs for ethnic and racial minorities.
