US: Pentagon executes massive online erasure of minority and women's contributions

The Pentagon has removed thousands of photos and contributions of people of colour and women to the US military from its website as part of the Trump administration’s "war" on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), leaving error messages where the original web pages once were.

When searching for content on the Department of Defence website, visitors can see web pages dealing with historical and current contributions by different races, ethnicities, women, and other minorities have been removed, prompting concerns about historical erasure.

A black history search leads to 1,126 results, and many of the listed pages lead to a "404 - Page Not Found" error message. For example, clicking on a link entitled "Intrepid African American Soldiers Broke Barriers" yields an error message saying the page cannot be found.

A multimedia tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American flying unit in the US military, has also been removed.

The original web page recognised the actions of how the Tuskegee Airmen changed the history of the air force.

Commenting on the purge to black history, Thomas A. Guglielmo, Professor of American Studies and History at George Washington University, said, "There is no US military history without Black history. African Americans have been crucial members of the armed forces for as long as the United States has existed."

He added that African Americans have been forced to fight at least two wars - one in defense of the nation and the other in defense of themselves as citizens and human beings - for the same rights and resources and dignity as anyone else.

A similar search for historical contributions by Native American military members led to 440 results, with many of the original links removed.

For example, a web page highlighting Kiowa Veterans was no longer visible, along with an event where former Deputy Secretary of Defence Kathleen Hicks commemorated the contributions of Native American military personnel.

Hicks was the highest-ranking woman to have served in the State Department and vacated her position when President Donald Trump came to power in January.

Women - who historically struggled against glass ceilings in the military - have also suffered from attacks on DEI. Many of the 1,540 results on women’s history were removed, including an article about how integral women are to the military and the work being done to diminish barriers.

Another piece highlighting female achievements by the skydiving team was also purged.

Contributions by Asian Americans and Latinos have also been decimated. Web pages talking about Pride - typically affirming the rights of Lesbian, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans and Queer people (LGBTQ) - had also been removed.

Even though there are thousands of Muslim military personnel, web pages about the contributions of Muslims and Arab Americans were already scant, with no profiles of personnel found other than some posts about Ramadan iftar dinners.

Diversity is not a strength

Last week, the Defence Department came under fire for removing pages about an African American Medal of Honor and Japanese American service members. By yesterday, the Pentagon reinstated the pages, saying they had been removed in error, according to a report by The Guardian.

Army Major General Charles Calvin Rogers was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1970, becoming the highest-ranking Black service member to receive the country’s greatest military honour. He was wounded three times while serving in Vietnam.

Last week, the term "medal" in the website address was changed to "Deimedal", fuelling a public outcry, referring to the medal being given simply as a DEI initiative and not for the merit of the achievements.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell defended the move at a briefing on Tuesday, saying, “I think the president and the secretary have been very clear on this - that anybody that says in the Department of Defence that diversity is our strength is, is frankly, incorrect. Our shared purpose and unity are our strength. And I say this as somebody who led a combat platoon in Afghanistan that was probably the most diverse platoon that you could possibly imagine.”

On 20 January, President Trump signed an executive order titled "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing." It directs the director of the Office of Management and Budget to terminate all mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities relating to "diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility".

Shortly afterwards, the Defence Department’s top public affairs official sent a memo, seen by The Associated Press, asking all military services to meet a 5 March deadline to remove website postings, photos, news articles, videos, and any references that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Also, in January, a note was released saying that the department would no longer be hosting celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months, including Black History Month; Women’s History Month; Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month; Pride Month; National Hispanic Heritage Month; National Disability Employment Awareness Month; and National American Indian Heritage Month.

It said that “unity and purpose” were instrumental to the department’s mission and efforts to “divide the force and… erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution”.

Service members and civilians are permitted to attend these events in an unofficial capacity outside of duty hours.

“If the Department of Defense wishes to erase this history, it will be erasing a vital piece of American history and American military history and some of the most important and inspiring stories we know,” Guglielmo said.