Under former President Trump’s administration, Head Start programs were effectively told that when applying for federal funding, they needed to avoid using a massive list of words and phrases, nearly 200 of them or risk having their applications denied.
These weren’t fringe buzzwords. They included basic, everyday terms that describe the very populations Head Start is legally required to serve, children with disabilities, women, Black Children and Black Families, minority communities, tribal families, trauma-informed care, accessibility, and belonging.
Head Start exists specifically to support low-income families, children with special needs, and marginalized communities. Federal law literally requires these programs to identify those needs in order to meet them. But under directives issued during the Trump administration, they were told to go around the language that accurately describes their work, their kids, and their communities.
This is about power, compliance, and silencing. When you control the language, you control what can be acknowledged. And when programs are forced to strip their applications of honest descriptions just to survive financially, that’s coercion.
What makes this especially disturbing is that these are early childhood programs. We’re talking about toddlers, disabled children, kids coming from trauma, families who already struggle to be seen. If the system can’t even name them anymore, how are they supposed to be protected?
Head Start has historically served a significant number of Black children due to long-standing economic and systemic disparities. Forcing programs to avoid even naming Black children and Black families erases the reality of who these programs are meant to support and why they exist in the first place. Ignoring race doesn’t eliminate racial inequity, ignoring race makes it easier for institutions to pretend it isn’t happening.
If you want to see the full list of nearly 200 words and phrases that Head Start programs were told to avoid under former President Trump’s administration, you can find it in the official court filing attached as an exhibit. This list includes terms that describe the very populations Head Start is legally required to serve, from children with disabilities to minority communities, Black children and Black families, Women, tribal families, and phrases related to accessibility, trauma-informed care, and inclusion.
The full list is publicly available here:
by Successful-Thanks309
5 Comments
am I the only one that noticed “female” and “black” “Native American” are on the list but not “male” or “white”?
As a former Head Start kid and educator, this is so beyond messed up and antithetical to the aims of the program and its intention of building up youth.
I find that the people who say slavery and USA’s general anti-Black history shouldn’t be taught in schools because it can be detrimental to the mental health and worth of white students are missing the point. Unless these white students identify with the slave owners, why would they feel bad?
Slave owners were actually a minority of rich land owners and plantation owners. The rest of the white folk at the time were poor folk struggling to survive. And they were the folks who fought against slavery and have help out over the years by joining marches, protests, etc. Surely white students would identify with the good side of history and see that their people were most likely in the good throngs of the general population and not the minority of violent farmers and land owners?
Stop the bans, improve the education.
I am formally telling Head Start to prominently display these three words: Fuck Donald Trump.
I havent read the list but i bet “epstein” and “list” are on there