Adam Harris
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adamhsays.com
Adam Harris
@adamhsays.com
5.1K followers 610 following 510 posts
Writer exploring education, history, politics, and the South. Author of The State Must Provide. Writing Is This America? | Senior Fellow, New America. Occasionally sharing poems. Work in The Atlantic, NYT, Guardian, and more.

www.harrisadam.com
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adamhsays.com
My essay from April on the dismantling of the department, and the administration’s commitment to returning American education to a time before the Civil Rights Act, when the nation’s most vulnerable students were largely unprotected: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/o...
“The president’s vision to take a sledgehammer to the Department of Education’s ability to function will cause student suffering. The founders believed that education was critical to the full experience of citizenship; it was where students learned arts, sciences, humanities and how to engage with one another. But putting that vision into place left the nation with a system where inequities — in content and classroom composition — were left in place. America began to undo those inequities, and the department protected that progress. Now, less than three months into Mr. Trump’s second presidency, the administration has done everything in its power, and some things beyond its authority, to ensure we are equal no more.“
November 18, 2025 at 5:25 PM
adamhsays.com
www.mississippifreepress.org/mississippi-...
The victories followed Tuesday’s special legislative elections. Six Senate seats were up for a special election on Tuesday, along with one House seat, because a federal court ordered the State to create more Black-majority legislative districts earlier this year. Two other Senate districts were up for special elections to fill vacated seats, along with a House seat. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits racial discrimination in voting and mandates that racial minorities must have an equal opportunity to participate in the election process. That could soon change, however, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed majority appeared inclined to strike down Section 2 during oral arguments in a case last month.
November 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
adamhsays.com
me for the entire half
a text thread of expletives and astonishment
October 23, 2025 at 2:56 AM
adamhsays.com
The reason I thought to share is because I asked the provost what would happen if the university were given a large sum of money: “even if the state were to miraculously open the coffers for state institutions, Summers said he would likely still eliminate the history major..”
But as much as this is a tale of a resource-strapped institution, it’s also a tale of something else—something that has nothing to do with the school’s budget and everything to do with the state of higher education in the 21st century. And that’s because even if the state were to miraculously open the coffers for state institutions, Summers said he would likely still eliminate the history major and others in favor of more focus on STEM fields bolstered by a broader general-education curriculum. “If we suddenly received more dollars,” he told me, “we’d have to ask some pretty hard questions about where we’d want to invest those dollars—and again, I’d point to enrollment figures.” If the demand is for the fields with clearly prescribed career pathways, that’s where the resources should flow, he said. “We are obligated to make sure that we’re serving those students in the best way possible, and for that money, we need to focus on the liberal-arts core curriculum of the university,” he told me.
October 21, 2025 at 8:54 PM
adamhsays.com
And shoutout to archivists who preserve letters like this one: "Paul Stephenson, out of an abundant sense of protection of IHL, had reiterated the point that no further resources were to be implied by the recognition of JSU as "comprehensive," to the degree that it bordered on insult."
Here is the final proposal of IHL to the plaintiffs in Ayers. The board members will not move another inch, they say. They did include several of the comments yesterday by the plaintiffs counsel. This language is highlighted. The new language on "comprehensive" recognition is essentially ours, but is stated in a more positive way and is stated only once. Paul Stephenson, out of an abundant sense of protection of IHL, had reiterated the point that no further resources were to be implied by the recognition of JSU as "comprehensive," to the degree that it bordered on insult. Moore is in Memphis today, but is available to talk to you by phone. He and Anderson believe that the plaintiffs will take the deal, and we may be before the court next week. Peyton
October 21, 2025 at 5:52 PM
adamhsays.com
Thurgood Marshall: "If only the principle of color-blindness had been accepted by the majority in Plessy in 1896..."
memo Thurgood Marshall sent to his colleagues in 1978 as they were deliberating about the Bakke case which both upheld and limited AA: memo Thurgood Marshall sent to his colleagues in 1978 as they were deliberating about the Bakke case which both upheld and limited AA:
October 15, 2025 at 3:54 PM
adamhsays.com
Companies.. colleges… institutions, generally… individual people. Same applies. Values are only as good as their durability under pressure.
“Values are only as good as their durability under pressure; and many of America’s largest companies proved an equitable, inclusive workplace was never one of their core values to begin with.“
October 15, 2025 at 3:50 PM
adamhsays.com
I know one way it’s affecting my research..
Notice Due to the temporary shutdown of the federal government beginning October 1, 2025, all Library of Congress buildings are closed and all public events are canceled until further notice
October 13, 2025 at 5:36 PM
adamhsays.com
The distance, between the claim that “advocates are actually engaging in violent and dangerous behavior“ to the reality that “bystanders reported seeing children zip-tied to one another,” tells quite the moral story.

Read @caitlindickerson.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“Many of these so-called advocates are actually engaging in violent and dangerous behavior,” Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, told me in a statement. She added, in reference to Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker: “From comparisons to the modern-day Nazi gestapo to glorifying rioters, the violent rhetoric of these sanctuary politicians is beyond the pale. This rhetoric is contributing to a more than 1000% surge in assaults of our ICE officers.” And yet this comes at a time when ICE itself has become more violent toward immigrants, protesters, and unlucky bystanders alike. In recent weeks, agents have shoved to the ground a journalist trying to document an arrest and a woman who was crying because her husband had just been taken into custody. Both were hospitalized. And in Chicago, they shot a woman who they say rammed an agency vehicle—a claim that the woman’s lawyer said body-camera footage disproves. Alongside the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the FBI, ICE also stormed an apartment building in the dark of night, breaking down doors and detaining scores of people, including U.S. citizens. Bystanders reported seeing children zip-tied to one another.
October 11, 2025 at 8:21 PM
adamhsays.com
A footnote on the purpose of the poems:
Even in the worst times, people have had to rest. It may not mean stopping altogether, but acknowledging that a fight against time is futile. That does not mean we overindulge in leisure. Each of us has the ability to slow down, and to consider how we read or write, work or live. We can also decide what we can or cannot withstand. The input of time only records our moments of decision, until we have none left to make.
October 10, 2025 at 5:31 PM
adamhsays.com
Those who subscribe to my newsletter just received this, again, it's free. I don't charge for it, and would only do so if absolutely necessary. It may not be what you’ve normally read of me, but I’ve written poetry for as long as I can remember.

substack.com/home/post/p-...
On time, a two poem collection on our capacity.
October 10, 2025 at 5:22 PM
adamhsays.com
I sent a note to the author of this lovely reflection on my book. I feel a special duty to humanizing history. It's impossible to capture a full-person, but if we are able to capture enough of them that our work is fair, then we have done our part. stanforddaily.com/2025/10/08/l...
“The State Must Provide: Why America’s Colleges Have Always Been Unequal―and How to Set Them Right” by Adam Harris — Adeline Lee In “The State Must Provide,” Adam Harris traces the history of racial inequality in American higher education and the systemic exclusion of Black Americans from education. He explores the establishment and development of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which emerged from a post-Civil War push for agricultural education. Harris also examines the HBCUs’ struggles for survival as state legislatures withheld funding and as activists and plaintiffs fought legal battles for education equality. This book was eye-opening and humbling to read for me as a student pursuing higher education. Harris’ writing stood out for how powerfully it humanizes history; his portrayal of activists and plaintiffs not only through their work but also through their personal fears and struggles was devastating yet inspiring. It forced me to reflect on my own privileges and to reconsider the true purpose of my education — an opportunity that others fought so desperately for. I now feel a stronger obligation to use my access to education to advocate for greater equity and inclusion in academic spaces.
October 10, 2025 at 4:39 PM
adamhsays.com
always talking about the south.
A screen capture of the HBCU braintrust conversation
October 7, 2025 at 1:21 PM
adamhsays.com
I felt so lucky to be accompanied by Bethany Mollenkoff who took some really incredible portraits of Jo Ann and others who desegregated the nation's schools.
Jo Ann Allen Boyce Sonnie Hereford III Hugh Price
October 3, 2025 at 3:33 PM
adamhsays.com
I went to visit Jo Ann Allen Boyce for an extended interview about the Clinton 12's experience. Children integrated America. www.theatlantic.com/education/ar...
On her first day, Boyce had worn her hair long, proud. But after that, white students would walk up behind her in the halls and yank it. “You would never know who it was,” she said. “They would make plenty of space by the time you had recovered and turned around.” On the third day of that first week, the ruckus outside the school grew. Inside, students would step on the back of the Black students’ heels. Gail remembers her heels being stepped on until they bled. John Kasper, a 26-year-old segregationist and Ku Klux Klan member, had also started organizing in town. The walk to school became treacherous for the Black students as the mob threw rocks, bottles, sticks, and rotten tomatoes and eggs at them. “It felt like you were being squeezed” walking into the building, Boyce said. “They weren’t that close, but it felt that way, like you were being smothered by these rows of people on the side of the road.”
October 3, 2025 at 3:22 PM
adamhsays.com
Setting aside the philosophical questions about the relationship between higher ed and democracy, accepting this compact is to accept lies about the history of higher education. I wrote a whole book about it. adamhsays.substack.com/p/a-raw-new-...
October 3, 2025 at 2:29 PM
adamhsays.com
"It’s easy enough to nod along with the principle, if you ignore America’s history of higher education and assume the words were written in good faith. Maybe that was naive before this administration took office; seven months in, it’s willful ignorance." adamhsays.substack.com/p/a-raw-new-...
The Supreme Court’s decision in SFFA stopped short of banning race altogether, leaving room for students to discuss how it shaped their lives in personal essays. But the administration has acted as if it barred any consideration at all. Institutions that sign this agreement would go even further, pledging not to weigh race, sex, nationality, political views, sexual orientation, religion—or even proxies like geography or wealth—in admissions or financial aid. It’s easy enough to nod along with the principle, if you ignore America’s history of higher education and assume the words were written in good faith. Maybe that was naive before this administration took office; seven months in, it’s willful ignorance. Remember, Jim Crow laws were “race-neutral” on their face, too. They didn’t say Black people couldn’t vote; they just required property ownership or a literacy test. Those hurdles could be waived, of course, if your grandfather fought for the Confederacy. The burden fell entirely on Black citizens, framed as their own failure rather than discrimination.
October 3, 2025 at 1:42 PM
adamhsays.com
I have more thoughts, but this a lot of words to say that signatories of the compact will be expected to disregard the rights of transgender students. www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/u...
A screenshot of section six of the linked document from the Trump administration titled Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, which uses a lot of words to say signatories of the document will be expected disregard the rights of transgender students.
October 2, 2025 at 6:09 PM
adamhsays.com
spinning this as anything other than a fraudulent investigation and an assault on institutional autonomy is wholly unserious.
September 19, 2025 at 5:06 PM
adamhsays.com
(sorry, it's about meeting your future spouse, too. what's old is new: we're bring back the MRS.)
September 9, 2025 at 4:45 PM
adamhsays.com
so the point of american higher education is to be an unapologetic booster for a sanitized history in order to convince young people to be "proud to be American" again?

and "civilizational inheritance" is doing a lot of work.

www.ed.gov/about/news/s...
"Third, college leaders must once more treat their institutions as repositories of our civilizational inheritance. We have entrusted them with producing citizens who sustain America’s economic and cultural vitality. And they have violated that trust. In the past few years, we’ve seen colleges take foreign funding for groups that have stirred up violent activism and created hostile environments, for Jewish students especially. We’ve seen real American history stripped out of the curriculum, and the heritage of our country denigrated by both rogue professors and official university statements. This is a profound betrayal of America’s founding tradition of liberty. A 2024 survey found that more than half of college students were unable to answer basic civics questions about the Bill of Rights, election law, or the three branches of government. It’s little surprise that a poll this year found only 41% of 18-29 year olds today are proud to be American."
September 9, 2025 at 4:43 PM
adamhsays.com
🥲
August 20, 2025 at 3:10 PM
adamhsays.com
“The Trump-McMahon Dept. of Education will not allow federal funds, provided for the benefit of all students, to be used in this pernicious and unlawful manner,”

Craig Trainor, the acting OCR chief, says of a program to address disparities in discipline, graduation, and achievement.
“Chicago Public Schools have a record of academic failure, leaving students from all backgrounds and races struggling and ill-prepared to meet the challenges and enjoy the rewards of contemporary American life,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “Rather than address its record honestly, CPS seeks to allocate additional resources to favored students on the basis of race. The Trump-McMahon Department of Education will not allow federal funds, provided for the benefit of all students, to be used in this pernicious and unlawful manner. To CPS, I say this: Every American student deserves access to a quality education, and the Trump Administration will fight tirelessly to uphold that ideal and ensure all students are treated equally under law.”
April 29, 2025 at 7:48 PM
adamhsays.com
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is opening an investigation into Chicago Public Schools.

The investigation is based on a complaint that the district’s “Black Students Success Plan” is discriminatory.
U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Launches Title VI Investigation into Chicago Public Schools A Complaint Filed with OCR Alleges That CPS Has an Academic-Achievement Initiative That Discriminates on the Basis of Race The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today opened an investigation into the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) amid allegations that CPS has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964). This investigation is based on a complaint filed with OCR by Parents Defending Education (now “Defending Education”) alleging that CPS has an academic-achievement initiative that discriminates against students on the basis of race. The complaint asserts that CPS’s 2023-2024 “Black Students Success Plan” violates Title VI by focusing on remedial measures only for black students, despite acknowledging that Chicago students of all races struggle academically.
April 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM
adamhsays.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/o...
On Jan. 18, 2021, when Mr. Trump’s panel released its report, it put forth a view of American history that has relentlessly bent toward progress through slavery and Jim Crow. That trend began to reverse, the panel argued, at the culmination of the civil rights movement. “The civil rights movement was almost immediately turned to programs that ran counter to the lofty ideals of the founders,” the authors of the report wrote. They argued that the idea that “past discrimination requires present effort” — the logic of affirmative action — amounted to reverse discrimination. “Those forms of preferential treatment built up in our system over time, first in administrative rulings, then executive orders, later in congressionally passed law, and finally were sanctified by the Supreme Court.” That is now a view held by officials in the current Trump administration. For example, a 2021 review of Christopher Caldwell’s book “The Age of Entitlement,” by Craig Trainor, endorses the idea that the government which grew up to enforce the Civil Rights Act went too far.
April 24, 2025 at 1:15 AM