Trump's DEI Attack is the New Redemption

 Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction gave freed slaves political and economic power.  Unfortunately, White Southerners were successful in defeating the Reconstruction through what they called "Redemption"--the use of Jim Crow and political oppression to recreate White Supremacy.  This period of oppression in the South lasted until the landmark Civil Rights Acts in the 1965. 

The Trump Administration's wholesale attack on DEI, I fear, is a new Redemption that seems aimed at eliminating the progress since 1965.  The Trump attack on DEI goes well beyond the removal of Affirmative Action.   As Monica Hesse wrote in a recent Washington Post column, the Administration is erasing from the public record of images and historical events that involve anyone other than White straight males:

In January, the department released guidance titled “Identity Months Dead at DoD.” Now, the AP reported, clicking on photographic descriptions tagged, say, “Black History Month” or “National American Indian Heritage Month” often lead you to a page reading “Content not found.” Same with images purporting to describe the achievements of Hispanic Marines or Asian Pacific Islanders, or a photograph of an all-female combat support crew in Afghanistan.

.  .  .

Perhaps you can sense the problem: You cannot remove photographs related to Women’s History Month without also removing the women in the photographs and the context of why they are there to begin with. You cannot claim to focus on the “character of their service” if your focus ends up deleting them from your pages altogether. You cannot live in America without living in its discomfort, marveling at the adversity that so many fought through in their efforts to become soldiers or citizens.

The Defense Department’s anti-DEI initiative does not merely eliminate programs. It erases people. It pretends that the history of the military is more White, less queer and more male than it really was. Also, by doing away with the celebrations that provide historical context for how things got the way they got, it somehow also pretends that there is absolutely no reason for this White, straight maleness. No history of discrimination. No legal or social barriers that would have prevented women or minorities from enlisting. No reason to feel bad about what our country did or didn’t do, has or hasn’t done.

The purge extends well beyond the Pentagon. In February, the National Park Service’s website exploring the history and meaning of the Stonewall Uprising was altered to remove references to the transgender activists who were essential to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The page now recognizes Stonewall as a milestone for “LGB” civil rights.