President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a prime precedence to take away something related to range, fairness, and inclusion initiatives from federal web sites, whatever the context. However in doing so, it’s erasing historical past—and making a compelling case for why we shouldn’t be dismantling the Division of Training.
One evident instance of that is Pete Hegseth’s Division of Protection, which, in early March, erroneously eliminated a historic picture of the B-29 bomber, the Enola Homosexual, from the Pentagon’s web site. (The aircraft dropped the primary atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, throughout World Battle II.) Why? As a result of the plane’s title comprises the phrase “homosexual.”
This absurdity is a strong illustration of how far Trump and his cronies will go of their quest to get rid of something that is perhaps construed as “inclusive.” However this explicit flub reveals the administration’s true intentions: to distort historic details for the sake of ideological purity.
Extra just lately, on Tuesday, it was reported that the Protection Division eliminated articles concerning the Navajo Code Talkers from its web site, supposedly following a directive from Trump and Hegseth to get rid of all DEI-related content material from Pentagon and army websites.
As we’ve highlighted earlier than, although, beneath Trump, DEI has been lowered to little greater than a smokescreen. The time period now serves as a device for denying alternatives to folks of coloration, ladies, and minorities—if not erasing them completely from the historical past books.
To date, the Protection Division has been on the forefront of this effort to whitewash the previous. Nevertheless it’s not simply Hegseth. Trump’s America doesn’t simply tolerate blatant racism—it celebrates it. Nazi salutes are casually made by presidential surrogates with out penalties, and Accomplice generals are celebrated as heroes. Historical past is being erased proper earlier than our eyes.
This previous Friday, the Arlington Cemetery web site deleted details about sure Black, Hispanic, and feminine service members, in response to The Washington Publish. Then, on Monday, the Publish reported {that a} webpage honoring Pfc. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian and one of many Marines famously photographed elevating the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945, had been faraway from the Protection Division’s web site. After public pushback, officers acknowledged the web page can be restored.
Jackie Robinson, the primary Black man to play Main League Baseball and a former Military lieutenant, additionally discovered himself on the chopping block. Studies point out his story has additionally been erased from the Division of Protection’s web site.
As one ESPN columnist wrote, “The ghouls who did this needs to be ashamed. Jackie Robinson was the embodiment of an American hero. Repair this now.”
After extra public outcry, the article on him was restored as of Wednesday.
Robinson isn’t the primary Black icon as soon as celebrated by the president to be swept apart on this DEI purge. A webpage honoring Medgar Evers, the civil rights activist and U.S. Military World Battle II veteran, was additionally faraway from the Arlington Cemetery web site.
These situations elevate a troubling query: Does Trump even perceive the results of his actions, regardless of their obvious lack of rationality? In any case, throughout the 2017 opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Trump referred to as Evers a “nice American hero.” But now, in 2025, it’s as if that acknowledgment by no means occurred. What’s modified?
The administration’s actions transcend seemingly innocuous coverage directives; they characterize a deliberate try to whitewash historical past after which later rewrite it within the picture of those that maintain energy. By attacking DEI initiatives, the president is erasing the numerous achievements of individuals of coloration—achievements which have formed America’s id.
These examples underscore the administration’s blatant disregard for historical past and variety. Greater than that, they reveal what occurs when figures like Hegseth name for the eradication of DEI: the promise of a “merit-based, color-blind” society interprets into one the place traditionally marginalized teams are denied credit score and upward mobility.
There’s an irony on this. Whereas the administration seeks to decrease the accomplishments of underrepresented teams, folks like Hegseth are rewarded regardless of their lack of related {qualifications}. He was given his place not for expertise, however as a result of he’s a white man who’s loyal to Trump.
Regardless of all of the rhetoric about wanting a colorblind society, the administration’s actions communicate louder than phrases. The true aim is obvious: a whiter America.
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