Arlington National Cemetery has removed pages about Black, Hispanic and women veterans from their website.
Considered to be the largest cemetery in the U.S. and run by the National Army, Arlington National Cemetery’s website previously included vast information on the graves of BIPOC military veterans, including those who received the Medal of Honor, as well as educational material on Black history, women’s history and the Civil War. Those pages have now been removed completely or have been moved to another part of the website that makes no mention of race or gender.
Per the Washington Post, the “Notable Graves” of Black, Hispanic and women veterans are amongst those pages that have been taken down completely alongside educational pages on the Civil Rights Movement and Black war heroes. The stories of the Tuskegee Airmen, Gen Colin L Powell and Hector Santa Anna are noticeably absent from the website.
A cemetery spokesperson told the Washington Post that the cemetery is reworking its website to ensure that it adheres to the Trump administration’s guidelines.
“The whole thing is deeply concerning,” said Rep. Adam Smith from the House Armed Services Committee in conversation with the New York Times. “Even if you have concerns about the way DEI was handled in a number of different places, I’ve never seen a problem within the military.”
Since the start of his second term, the Trump administration has focused on removing DEI initiatives in several sectors, including the U.S. military. Last month, President Trump signed an executive order ending DEI programs in the military, claiming the programs discriminate by race and gender.
The subsequent events led to a purge of more than 26,000 images of war heroes, including the Tuskegee Airmen, as well as events.
The military will also not recognize historic months such as Black History Month and Women’s History Month. Certain books, including To Kill a Mockingbird and Fahrenheit 451, will also be removed from the shelves.
The anti-DEI push will continue until all diversity initiatives are removed, even though approximately 30% of the 2 million people serving in the US military are BIPOC. Approximately 20% are women.
