‘Too many federal entities have become vehicles for ideological grantmaking, ’ fiscal watchdog says
While the Trump administration continues to make cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, there is no word yet on the status of a grant awarded to a Northeastern University professor for her book about the “ Whiteness ” of the violin.
The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the$ 60,000 offer to Northeastern music Professor Francesca Inglese in early January, just prior to President Donald Trump taking office.
Since then, the Trump presidency has been canceling offers through the company and others that are related to the La philosophy.
The College Fix could not decide whether Inglese’s offer is one of those being cut, but one fiscal watchdog firm says such reductions are needed.
“Too many federal entities have become vehicles for ideological grantmaking that ’s far afield from government’s core responsibilities, ” John Hart, CEO of Open The Books, told The Fix in a recent interview.
Inglese is an ethnomusicologist, common music professor, and singer. An assistant professor, her bio describes her book project “Dark Angels: Black Violinists and the Race of Musical Instruments ” as “refram[ing ] the violin by attending to its integral place in the development of Black American popular music genres… ”
The guide will explain “genre-bending Black instrumentalists whose radical improvements have been critical, but long ignored ” and make the case that “musical devices become richly layered with social meaning, continuously transformed in the arms of players. ”
According to the NEH give information, Inglese’s works will focus around the elements of African American players, culture, and American songs.
“Despite the lengthy history of the instrument in Black American song and the many African American violinists and fiddlers who shaped the equipment, the instrument has largely been constructed in the popular perception as an tool tied to Whiteness, ” the offer description states.
In the book, Inglese ( pictured ) plans to focus on “the violin as a lens through which to reimagine the history of American music ” and “critically ” reframe the instrument based on “its integral place in the development of Black music genres. ”
She believes “a musical equipment can serve as a strong pipeline of racial philosophy, transformed in the arms of Black players, ” the description states.
The Fix reached out to Professor Inglese several times via internet, asking about the reputation of the offer and her guide, but received no reply.
A number of NEH offers are on the chopping block as the Trump presidency continues cutting taxpayer-funded La plans.
In earlier April, “state arts governments and other award recipients began receiving letters telling them their money was ended quickly, ” the New York Times reported.
One email from the NEH to scholar Natalia Mehlman Petrzela states her “grant’s instant dismissal is necessary to safeguard the objectives of the federal government, including its fiscal interests. ” The$ 60,000 grant funded Petrzela’s book on “the history of conflicts over public education, ” including a section on “race. ”
The National Endowment for Humanities did not respond to many emails from The Fix over the past two days, asking for a list of the offers being cut and if Inglese’s is among them.
Start the Books, a fiscal watchdog non-profit that information on federal spending, believes that people may understand how the government uses their wealth because it influences “how they vote and how they view their state. ”
“This award is a case in point: even music, a universal art form, is injected with some element of identity politics using our tax dollars, ” Hart told The Fix.
“ While there may well be an audience [for ] a book on Black violinists, it ’s up to the author and publisher to find it, not the public. These are the kinds of grants Open the Books is built to identify and bring to the taxpayer’s attention, ” he said.
A recent College Fix analysis found the NEH awarded nearly$ 2. 4 million in DEI-related grants to higher education institutions in early January. Along with Inglese’s grant, others included a book about LGBTQ+ cartoonists and a study on “feminist mapping, ”
MORE: Amherst College course will explore ‘history of race, gender ’ through comic books
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A musician plays the violin. Alenavlad/Shutterstock, Northeastern University
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