American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said Wednesday that efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion policies threaten civil rights progress and amount to what she described as a path toward fascism.

Weingarten made the remarks during an appearance in New York on “State of New York” at 92NY while discussing her new book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers.

Weingarten referenced President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI programs in the federal government.

Trump has described such programs as creating “an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.”

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During the event, Weingarten said opponents of DEI initiatives were attempting to erase long-standing civil rights advancements.

“In the last two or three years, the behavior of some is very, very, very dangerous,” Weingarten said.

She continued, “The erasure of the civil rights movement and of equal opportunity… making [the] words diversity and inclusion toxic when there was just a civil rights survey that said, 88% of people in America believe in diversity, the attempt to Balkanize, to undermine pluralism and the attempt to stop teachers from in schools all across America, not just pre-K through 12, but in higher education from teaching, critical thinking and problem solving. To me, all of that is gets you on the road to fascism.”

Weingarten also described what she characterized as “dehumanization,” pointing to a prior exchange with Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia during a congressional hearing.

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Weingarten noted that Greene apologized for earlier comments she had made.

In a separate interview in November 2023 with Julia Manchester of The Hill, Weingarten said that criticism of her leadership stemmed from homophobia and antisemitism.

.@RWeingarten plays the victim (again) by saying criticisms of her work are anti-semitic, homophobic "lies" intended to "undermine" schools, democracy and the American dream 🙄 pic.twitter.com/34C9j09iuE

— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) November 13, 2023

The remarks come as nationwide student achievement remains below pre-pandemic levels.

According to 2024 data from the Nation’s Report Card, student test scores have not recovered from the declines that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Math and reading scores posted the steepest drop in 50 years, based on 2023 figures from the National Center for Education Statistics.

During the period in which scores fell, national teachers unions publicly supported left-leaning policy issues, including critical race theory, gun control measures and gender-related instruction in school curricula.

These efforts drew sustained objections from parents in multiple states. Weingarten also reportedly opposed President Donald Trump’s July 2020 proposal to reopen schools during the pandemic.

Weingarten’s comments at the New York event continued her criticism of those seeking to reverse DEI efforts and restrict certain instructional topics.

The interview promoted themes from her book and addressed ongoing debates surrounding civil rights, education policy and the role of classroom instruction in public schools.

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