Fact check: Did President Donald Trump ‘cancel’ Black History Month?

After President Donald Trump signed executive orders in his first week in office ending federal programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and reversing executive enforcement of civil rights laws, public statements made on social media have suggested that the 47th president of the United States also moved to end the official observance of Black History Month. “While someone has tried to cancel Black history month… that is NOT happening in our office,” wrote U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday. Claims that Trump or the Executive Office of the President has canceled Black History Month appear to stem from a post from Mark Zaid, a prominent lawyer in Washington, D.C., who has represented federal government employees and whistleblowers. In an X post on Jan. 23, Zaid claimed that CIA employees were told that “all resource & affinity groups are canceled.” He continued, “No black history month or MLK celebration, or any other ethnic recognition months.” A day earlier, the Trump administration ordered that all federal employees in DEI roles be placed on paid leave and eventually laid off. While it’s plausible Trump’s executive orders may lead to a chilling effect on the celebration of Black...