With threats to diversity in schools, are Black male teachers in jeopardy?

The Department of Education's recent letter stressing that discrimination on the basis of race is "illegal" could put Black male educators at risk, according to education experts and advocates.

A 1,000-word "Dear Colleague" letter sent by acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor emphasized the Department of Education will strictly enforce the Title VI civil rights laws that hold schools accountable for racial discrimination. The looming deadline to comply is this Friday, Feb. 28.

Education policy professor Phelton Moss suggested the letter is antithetical to promoting teacher diversity.

"[The letter] runs afoul to the work that we have already been doing to increase the share of Black male educators," Moss told ABC News.

Once dominant voices in education, Black men have become an anomaly in the field, making up just 1.3% of public school teachers in the National Center for Education Statistics' National Teacher and Principal Survey in 2020, the last time results were released for the study.

Moss said the "Dear Colleague" leads him to question how the work to recruit and retain Black male teachers will get done, given what appears to be a "lack of support" for it at the federal level.

Over years of reporting, roughly two dozen Black male educators at public, charter and private pre-K-12 schools across the country have told ABC News that they feel underappreciated and overstretched -- with their numbers in the profession already small and appearing to dwindle, according to experts.

In a recent interview with ABC News Live, Curtis Lewis, founder and CEO of the Black Male Educators Alliance, said educators are "scared" to discuss diversity because of the Trump administration's actions.

The administration has signed multiple executive orders aiming to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government, as well as its grantees and contractors. However, the orders were blocked by a federal judge for constitutional violations, including violating the First Amendment.

"Federal dollars are important to schools, especially low-income schools," Lewis said. "If folks are having initiatives that's focusing on getting more teachers of color, they're going to be less hesitant to do that if it's going to mean they're going to lose money."

This week, education groups opposing the memo sued the Department of Education, acting Education Secretary Denise Carter and Trainor because it could "irreparably harm" students and educators, according to the lawsuit. ABC News reached out to the department for comment but did not receive a response before publishing this story.

But the Department of Education has already taken steps to terminate the federal awards granted to teacher diversity programs, including the CREATE project formerly at Georgia State University, which conflicted with the department's policy of prioritizing merit, fairness and excellence in education, according to a termination letter obtained by ABC News.

Advocates, such as The Education Trust Senior Vice President Wil Del Pilar, said they believe targeting programs that expand diversity initiatives is the latest method to create fear among educators of color and can trickle down to programs that aid Black male teachers.

"If a district has or supports an effort to increase the number of Black male educators, I absolutely think that that will be called into question," Del Pilar told ABC News.

De'Shawn C. Washington said Black men are needed as educators now more than ever. Washington, the 2024 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, called Black men "warm demanders," or educators who are demanding by setting high expectations while simultaneously creating a nurturing learning environment.

"When Black male teachers -- warm demander teachers -- step into a space and hold every student, including themselves, accountable for the learning of every child in that space, all children get better," Washington told ABC News. "And that's the essence of what we bring to the table each and every day in our classroom spaces."

According to the Institute of Labor Economics' 2017 paper "The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers," when assigned a Black teacher between third and fifth grade, Black children are less likely to drop out of high school and are more likely to be interested in college.

In the "Dear Colleague" letter, the Department of Education vowed to crack down on school practices that critics say further segregate students on the basis of race and color, among other characteristics.

During her nomination hearing, Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of education, decried DEI for further segregating schools.

"We are getting back to more segregating of our schools instead of having more inclusion in our schools," McMahon said, adding "There are DEI programs that say that Black students need separate graduation ceremonies or Hispanics need separate ceremonies, but we are not achieving what we wanted to achieve with inclusion."

Meanwhile, House Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Bobby Scott, D-Va., called the memo an ill-advised and far-reaching interpretation of the Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action decision.

Ayodele Harrison is the founder and director of Black Male Educators Talk (BMEsTalk), a safe space for existing and aspiring Black male educators to connect, grow and lead. Currently, Harrison is focused on Black men cultivating emotional intelligence, self-care and wellness.

"We could host conversations around DEI and the impact of these executive orders, or we could spend time saying, 'Hey, checking in with one another: How are you doing?'" Harrison told ABC News. "We've had conversations, but we really talk about how we are doing as human beings and how we're navigating -- less on the policies, the executive orders, etc."

Harrison isn't as worried that this letter or other efforts to dismantle diversity initiatives will influence hiring future Black male teachers, saying he remains hopeful. He added that it may be too early to tell, just a month into the Trump administration, how Black men will be affected.

For now, Harrison told ABC News he is 100% focused on the 1% of the teaching workforce.

"This is a community of brave-hearted men that are committed to working in the education space," Harrison said. "We are going to encourage and support and push and hold each other accountable and celebrate and cry and hug and high-five and mentor each other in this education space."

"That's what we're going to do," he added.