Shocker - Trump Wants to Make Segregation Legal Again

The Trump administration has rolled back a contract clause that explicitly prohibited contractors from having segregated facilities such as restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains.

The General Services Administration has stated that several provisions in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, a document that sets uniform guidelines for government acquisitions, “are not consistent with the (racist, sexist, and homophobic) direction of the president.”

FAR Clause 52.222-21 defined segregated facilities to include locker rooms, waiting rooms, recreation areas, transportation, and housing “that are segregated by explicit directive or are in fact segregated on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin because of written or oral policies or employee custom.”

Though the memo emphasized that all contractors—whether or not they work for the government—are “still covered by existing United States laws on civil rights/nondiscrimination,” it instructed agencies not to include a number of FAR provisions and clauses in future solicitations and contracts. That list included clauses titled “Prohibition of Segregated Facilities,” “Equal Opportunity,” and “Affirmative Action Compliance.”

These clauses are being removed in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders against diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and gender ideology, according to an internal memo.

Segregation still ostensibly remains illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said the GSA memo “sends a CLEAR message.”

GSA spokesperson Will Powell told NPR that the agency “has taken immediate action to fully implement all current executive orders and is committed to taking action to implement any new executive orders.”