Department of Education misspells name of historical black leader in tweet

The U.S. Department of Education had the internet up in arms early Sunday after making an error in a tweet about a well-known black writer and educator.

In a tweet that went up at about 8 a.m., the department referenced a quote by the late W.E.B. DuBois, but misspelled his name, calling him “DeBois.”

Multiple Twitter users chastised the department in the hours after the tweet. The department has been in the news lately leading up to and following the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Education.

DeVos, a President Donald Trump nominee, faced a bitter partisan fight in the U.S. Senate before being confirmed by the slimmest of margins on Tuesday.

Critics pushed back on DeVos’ nomination while citing her past views on charter schools and school voucher programs, saying that she would be a detriment to public education in the country.

As of 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, the misspelled tweet was still up on the department’s Twitter feed, which boasts more than one million followers.

Before dying at the age of 95 in 1963, DuBois was a famous African American leader, writer, educator and one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 9:47 AM with the headline "Department of Education misspells name of historical black leader in tweet."