Trump Pentagon chief nixes Black History Month, other cultural-awareness celebrations for troops

Identity months at U.S. military bases are now a thing of the past, starting with Black History Month.

The Defense Department will no longer use “official resources, including man-hours” to recognize “cultural awareness months,” Trump administration Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said in guidance issued on the eve of Black History Month, which began Saturday.

The move affects 15 active-duty military bases in Texas, including Joint Base San Antonio, home to roughly 70,000 military and civilian employees. Military facilities have officially honored such celebrations for years.

The move came the same day the Trump White House issued a proclamation recognizing February as Black History Month. However, that followed the president signing an executive order dismantling federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the administration placing federal DEI officials on leave.

In addition to Black History Month, Hegseth said the military will no longer officially recognize Women’s History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month and National American Indian Heritage Month.

“Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department’s warfighting mission. Efforts to divide the force — to put one group ahead of another — erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution,” said Hegseth, a former Fox News personality who’s railed against military diversity programs and women serving in combat roles.

Kristofer Goldsmith, the founder of the Task Force Butler Institute and Veterans Fighting Fascism, told San Diego public TV station KPBS that Hegseth’s memo signals the White House doesn’t value contributions by minority military personnel.

“They’re not saying ‘no more lessons about Chesty Puller [or] Audie Murphy,” said Goldsmith, a military veteran. “They’re saying no more lessons about the Tuskegee Airmen. That is a deliberate choice — and it is a racist choice.”

In the walk of Trump’s original anti-DEI order, the Air Force yanked a video on the Tuskegee Airmen from its basic training curriculum. However, the branch subsequently returned the clip to its training material.

Goldsmith told KPBS that the new Pentagon order puts the U.S. readiness at risk because the military is a diverse organization that recruits from all over the country, including communities of color.

“The (U.S.) military is the most diverse organization on the planet,” Goldsmith said. “It is really harmful — not just [for] our military and readiness for combat — but culturally for the United States.”

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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.