Education Secretary Won't Say If She Knows What The Tulsa Race Massacre Is

Education Secretary Linda McMahon deflected when asked if she knew what the Tulsa Race Massacre was during a Wednesday congressional hearing, telling lawmakers that she intends to “look into it more.”

McMahon’s response comes as Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) pressed her about history lessons that would be considered “illegal DEI” by the Trump administration. (DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion and has been used by Republicans as shorthand for initiatives addressing race and gender, among other topics.) The comments are also the latest to suggest that McMahon — a former pro wrestling executive who’s had little education policy experience — could use a lesson or two herself.

“Would it be ‘illegal DEI’ for a lesson plan on the Tulsa Race Massacre?” Lee asked McMahon during the Wednesday panel.

“I’d have to get back to you on that,” McMahon said.

“Do you know what the Tulsa Race Massacre is?” Lee asked.

“I’d like to look into it more and get back to you on it,” McMahon replied.

McMahon was similarly evasive when asked if lessons involving civil rights trailblazer Ruby Bridges would be deemed “illegal DEI.”

“How about the book ‘Through My Eyes,’ by Ruby Bridges, for instance?” Lee asked.

“I haven’t read that,” McMahon responded.

“Have you learned about Ruby Bridges?” Lee said.

“If you have specific examples, you’d like to –” McMahon countered.

“That was a specific example... I named a specific book,” Lee emphasized.

McMahon’s exchange with Lee stood out both for her refusal to acknowledge whether she knew about major historical events as well as her reluctance to answer if the White House would target lessons about them.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment.

Both of Lee’s questions referred to significant events in U.S. history: The Tulsa Race Massacre took place in 1921 and was “one of America’s deadliest acts of domestic terrorism,” Taryn Finley previously wrote for HuffPost. During the attack, an armed white mob decimated a neighborhood in Tulsa known as Black Wall Street, killing as many as 300 people.

And in 1960, Bridges was the first Black child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Iconic images from that time captured Bridges, at age 6, flanked by U.S. Marshals and white crowds jeering as she entered the building.

FILE - U.S. Deputy Marshals escort 6-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, in this November 1960, file photo. Seventy years after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board, America is both more diverse — and more segregated.

via Associated Press

Lee emphasized that such lessons are critical for students as the Trump administration has sought to hold federal funding captive if schools advance programs that it disagrees with.

“Their lack of knowledge, denial of history, and open racism doesn’t mean students across America should be deprived of learning opportunities or access to a quality education,” she told HuffPost in a statement. “Clearly they’re still needed.”