October 13, 2026

Photo credit: Anna Moneymaker / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Trump administration has already struck blows against identity politics in education and employment. But its newest effort to combat America’s “cultural balkanization,” argues Michael Gonzalez, is a proposal to eliminate race, ethnicity, and sexual preference from the U.S. Census.

“Dismantling the grievance industry, the oppressor-oppressed paradigm, identity politics, and other ideas that rend the national fabric is an essential cause,” maintains Gonzalez. “The Census is a frequently overlooked theater in that struggle.”

Gonzalez argues that the proposal would augment Trump administration efforts in several other areas, including disparate-impact policy, racial preferences in university admissions and hiring, and the judicial creation of racial voting districts.

Read here to see why he calls the Census’s race and ethnicity questions “a betrayal of the vision of the American Founders.”

Earlier this year, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte announced that the state had cut the number of children in foster care by nearly half. What explains the decline?

It could be a change in the way the state tracks the data. More than one-third of children in foster care in the state are Native American. As more tribes have asserted “data sovereignty,” exactly how Native American children get counted is becoming increasingly unclear. Further, a 2025 report describes “narrowing the criteria for entry into foster care,” which means the state could be making it harder for child protection agencies to act.

“Taken together, these possibilities raise the concern that Montana is prioritizing lower foster-care numbers over child safety,” Emily Putnam-Hornstein and Naomi Schaefer Riley write. “Until Governor Gianforte can offer an explanation for how the number of children in foster care was cut in half safely, the public should be skeptical that it represents a positive development.”

Read more about the best ways for states to reduce the number of children in foster care. 

Founded in 1981, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s fellowship program awards “genius” grants every year to individuals who “highlight the importance of imaginative thinking in creating works of art and new forms of knowledge,” “spotlight the value of risk-taking in addressing deep-rooted societal problems,” “expand our understanding of creativity,” and “inspire and cultivate the next generation of innovators.” The fellows receive $800,000 over five years and can spend it however they wish.

Surely these honorees are enriching American thought, problem-solving, and innovation, right?

Not necessarily—at least judging by some of the more recent recipients. Choreographer Trajal Harrell was awarded for dance that “explores notions of the performing body, realness, and authenticity” and for exploring the “underground drag and ballroom competitions” of the Harlem ballroom scene. Fiction writer Bryan Washington was awarded for his stories about “queer men of color and their inherited and chosen families.” Visual artist Chip Thomas won for his “large-scale black-and-white photographs on abandoned buildings, grain silos, and other roadside structures across the Navajo Nation.”

“The MacArthur Foundation itself seems unconcerned about any loss of prestige,” Paul du Quenoy writes. “One hopes that today’s rising philanthropists will learn MacArthur’s expensive and embarrassing lesson and establish awards that once again honor true excellence and are immune to racial and ideological capture.”

Read more.