The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it; AP via ABC News, May 25, 2025

 BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press and CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press via ABC News; The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it

[Kip Currier: Access to information and technology is essential for providing more and better opportunities for every child and adult throughout America and the world. The Digital Equity Act of 2021 was a bi-partisan effort to promote access to information and technology and to bridge ongoing Digital Divides that exist in rural, suburban, and urban parts of America.

How absurd and moronic it is then that the current administration would intentionally mischaracterize the Digital Equity Act as "woke" and "racist".

How tragic and destructive it is that Trump's actions have halted the myriad good things that this law was set to achieve in the near future for so many Americans of all kinds. In Blue States, Purple States, and Red States.]

[Excerpt]

"One program distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina. Programs in Oregon and rural Alabama teach older people, including some who have never touched a computer, how to navigate in an increasingly digital world.

It all came crashing down this month when President Donald Trump — on his own digital platform, Truth Social — announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as “RACIST and ILLEGAL” and said it amounts to “woke handouts based on race.” He said it was an “ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway," though the program was actually funded with $2.75 billion.

The name seemed innocuous enough when the program was approved by Congress in 2021 as part of a $65 billion investment meant to bring internet access to every home and business in the United States. The broadband program itself was a key component of the $1 trillion infrastructure law pushed through by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden."