The 40-year-old said before he was named National Teacher of the Year that he would go to the White House ceremony, something many sports teams, including the University of Virginia men’s basketball team, have decided not to do since Trump took office in 2017.

“It’s to honor the people who worked for people with little respect for them,” said Robinson, referring to slaves who built the White House. “It’s not about Trump.”

In winning the award, Robinson, a teacher in Richmond’s juvenile detention center, will travel the country spreading his message that students of color need more teachers of color and impoverished students need more resources.

“Of all Americans, it may be the president who most needs to hear Rodney’s message of equity, inclusion and justice,” Superintendent Jason Kamras said. “As Rodney has so powerfully demonstrated with his work, our greatness as a country comes from the millions of people of all backgrounds who strive every day to right the wrongs of the past so we can become a more perfect union.”

A White House spokesperson could not immediately say what the president would be doing instead of attending the ceremony.