You're reading the Code Switch newsletter, written by
You can to get the newsletter delivered to your inbox, and to the Code Switch podcast to hear about all the messy and meaningful ways race shows up in all of our lives.
What's good, kinfolk?
So maybe you've heard: the Super Bowl is this weekend! And you've probably also heard: President Oh, and perhaps not coincidentally: The NFL on its football fields that reads "END RACISM"!
The NFL started using the lettering back in 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed. But for many reading between the lines of the NFL's decision to do away with that lettering, they saw this: America's most popular sports league and his administration began to target those programs at federal agencies. like Target and Meta and Amazon were more substantially rolling back their DEI initiatives.
The NFL that Trump's presence at the game had anything to do with doing away with the stenciling and the he doesn't believe the NFL's DEI programs (like the Rooney Rule, which ) are at odds with the Trump administration's efforts to ban them in government, and that the league .
And it's not just DEI initiatives that are taking a hit: major newsrooms across the country or lawsuits involving Trump — NPR's David Folkenflick looked to be inching toward capitulation in Trump's "onslaught of the media." Closer to home: and have already said they will be taking a close look into our coverage and funding at NPR. (Watch this space.)
Some democracy advocates worry that too many of our civic institutions are softening their postures toward Trump to avoid getting on his bad side, pointing to what the historian Timothy Snyder calls
"Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do."
Ezra Klein, the New York Times columnist, writes that Trump's blizzard of executive actions is that the will of his White House is inevitable. But Klein notes that all the activity belies just how many of the new administration's most high-profile decisions have already been stymied by , gotten jammed up , or faced . The Trump White House is governing by blitz, and as any football fan can tell you, the point of the blitz is to keep you jumpy and looking over your shoulder. But it's worth remembering that you play through a blitz by stepping up, absorbing the pressure you know is coming, and keeping your eyes downfield.
Copyright 2025 NPR
