Education Secretary Ridiculed for Failing to Answer Questions About Ruby Bridges and Black History: 'Not Fit for the Job'

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon revealed her lack of knowledge about key events in Black American history, sparking outcry online.

In a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) asked McMahon whether a lesson plan on the Tulsa race massacre would constitute "illegal DEI" (diversity, equity, and inclusion) under recent education policy crackdowns.

"I'd have to get back to you," McMahon responded, deflecting similarly when asked whether she knew what the Tulsa massacre was. "I'd like to look into it more and get back to you," she said.

When Lee questioned McMahon about the legality of instruction based on the book Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges — the first Black child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in the South — McMahon admitted she hadn't read the book about her and asked for "specific examples."

"That was a specific example," Lee snapped.

Critics pointed to the display of ignorance as evidence that she was unfit to lead the nation's educational endeavors.

"Every educator in America knows who Ruby Bridges is," a user posted on X. "But not the Secretary of Education."

"Not fit for the job!" insisted another user.

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) wrote, "Secretary McMahon isn't just a shining example of how ignorant a whitewashed view of history can make a person – she's living proof of why our public schools NEED a civil rights curriculum."

"Linda McMahon is what people who hate DEI think DEI is," read another comment. "An extraordinarily unqualified person gets a job for no other reason than her connections."

Some found the suggestion that McMahon wasn't aware of Ruby Bridges to be simply unbelievable. Born in 1948, McMahon would have been 12-years-old in 1960 when federal marshals escorted 6-year-old Ruby Bridges into a whites-only elementary school through a crowd of furious white protestors.

"Her being older than Ruby Bridges and acting like she don't know her story is crazy," commented one X user. "You know who she is."

Another wrote that her evasive responses signaled that either: "1. You're trying to erase history...or 2. You're wholly unfit for your position."

"Trumpers are aggressively, proudly blind to what huge injustices so many minorities in this country have endured," a comment accused.

McMahon's ignorance of historical events that shaped the civil rights movement raised particular alarm given the administration's anti-DEI crusade.

McMahon and Trump allies have railed against curriculum they say compels "innocent children to adopt identities of victim or oppressors solely based on the color of their skin." In Trump's executive order Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling, white privilege and unconscious bias are cited as concepts that "promote racial discrimination and undermine national unity."

The Department of Education has not commented on the exchange. It remains to be seen if McMahon will make good on her promise to get back to Rep. Lee after she "looks into" the Tulsa massacre.