As we approach the 25th anniversary of the International Mother Language Day, a quarter-century of efforts to preserve linguistic diversity, the NALDIC committee members raise their concerns about anti-diversity policies in the United States

Donald Trump’s return to the role of President of the United States has been accompanied by a number of executive orders and presidential directives that are likely to have a significant impact on different aspects of everyday life in America such as healthcare, citizenship and the environment, but particularly education.

NALDIC is concerned at the new administration’s signing of executive orders (EOs) specifically targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and citizenship rights. It is our view that these EOs, and others of their kind, have the potential to dismantle years of US anti-discrimination policy and citizenship rights, therefore hindering equal opportunities, progress and positive outcomes for a range of sectors and demographic groups, from employment to education, adults to children.

NALDIC’s long-standing work focusing on the development of language within children’s education brings the organisation into regular contact with diverse, vibrant communities. As a result, an understanding, recognition and respect for the intersectionality of identities is firmly established as one of our organisation’s key tenets; it is our strongly held belief that to fully support principles and actions that promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), all aspects of a person’s identity must be celebrated, valued and protected, such that their fundamental human rights remain unharmed. NALDIC is committed to – and actively promotes – EDI principles through our research, practice, and activism.

We advocate equal opportunities for all, recognising no difference in the status and sanctity of identity characteristics, whether these link to race, gender, sexuality, disability, social class, religion, citizenship status, language(s), or others. We are therefore strongly opposed to government policies that directly or indirectly seek to undermine or demonise diversity of identity, devalue people’s rights, stoke fear and distrust between social groups or create environments whereby inequality and disadvantage can take hold and spread unchecked within and across communities.

NALDIC wishes to publicly state to our membership that we will continue to reach out directly to colleagues and our members across America to offer our support and our resources. It is through networks such as ours that we can remain informed, empowered and able to affect positive change in the schools, classrooms and educational institutions within which we work. We continue to advocate for the principles of anti-racism, inclusion and diversity in all that we do because as an organisation, we are unshakeable in our belief that these are the core foundations of a fair and equitable society for all.

NALDIC Executive Committee

Get in touch

If you have been affected in any way by any of the recent media coverage around schools as protected spaces, please do get in touch with us through our NALDIC office (office@naldic.org.uk) and someone from our Executive Committee will get in touch with you