President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a high 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 airplane dropped the primary atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, throughout World Struggle II.) Why? As a result of the plane’s title accommodates the phrase “gay.”
This absurdity is a strong illustration of how far Trump and his cronies will go of their quest to eradicate something that may be construed as “inclusive.” However this explicit flub reveals the administration’s true intentions: to distort historic details for the sake of ideological purity.
Extra 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 eradicate all DEI-related content material from Pentagon and army websites.
As we’ve highlighted earlier than, although, beneath Trump, DEI has been diminished to little greater than a smokescreen. The time period now serves as a device for denying alternatives to individuals of colour, girls, and minorities—if not erasing them totally from the historical past books.
Thus far, the Protection Division has been on the forefront of this effort to whitewash the previous. However 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, based on The Washington Put up. Then, on Monday, the Put up 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 said 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. Stories 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 should be ashamed. Jackie Robinson was the embodiment of an American hero. Fix 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 Struggle II veteran, was additionally faraway from the Arlington Cemetery web site.
These cases increase a troubling query: Does Trump even perceive the implications of his actions, regardless of their obvious lack of rationality? In spite of everything, through the 2017 opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Trump referred to as Evers a “great 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 and 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 colour—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, individuals 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 purpose is evident: a whiter America.
