January 30, 2025
BHM Celebrations Paused As Trump’s New Defense Secretary Professes ‘Diversity Is Not Our Strength’
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New Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “diversity is not our strength” as the agency placed a pause on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month observances amid President Donald Trump’s federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) ban, The Associated Press reported.
The announcement, made via a Defense Intelligence Agency memo on Jan. 28, affects 11 annual events, including National Hispanic Heritage Month in September, Pride Month and Juneteenth in June, and Holocaust Days of Remembrance in April. The pause was insinuated by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the memo read, and is seemingly not the policy throughout the Defense Department. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. “We are receiving questions across the workforce on the way forward,” the memo said.
“DIA will pause all activities and events related to Agency Special Emphasis Programs effective immediately and until further notice.”
Following Trump’s executive order, agencies have struggled with ways to interpret it due to a lack of compliance guidance, but Hegseth took the order as a green light to create a task force to guarantee no DEI programs stay in the Pentagon. During an appearance on Fox News, he made it clear that diversity has no place in the agency. When asked “what’s happening with DEI,” the newly appointed secretary said it’s not going well because “it’s dead.” “Like the President said in his inaugural, we will be merit-based and colorblind. And that is the case at the defense department. DEI is going to be ripped-out, root and branched because we want everyone treated equally with high standards and held accountable, with war-fighting, lethality, and readiness front and center,” Hegseth said.
“We don’t have time for emphasizing differences … .one of the dumbest phrases in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength.’ Our diversity is not our strength…”
While the former news anchor claimed that people who don’t want to conform can work elsewhere, a number of military personnel have already confirmed their commitment to staying on the side of diversity. Days after the department announced they would remove lessons about the Tuskegee Airmen from its recruit teachings, U.S. Air Force officials said such measures won’t be tolerated, according to USA Today.
Alabama Senator Katie Boyd Britt referred to the decision as “malicious compliance.” The pushback resulted in the decision being reversed. Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin said the legacy and decorated valor of the nation’s first Black airmen to serve in the military “will continue to guide our newest recruits and all who serve in our ranks.”
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