High school world history teacher Hadley DiForti has been teaching her students about Navy hero Doris Miller for the last four years. Miller, a cook on a ship, was the first Black sailor to receive the Navy Cross for his bravery during the Pearl Harbor attack. When DiForti found that the Navy website she used to teach about Miller had been taken down, she was angry and her students were upset. The removal of such content follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion references from government websites.
The Pentagon has not responded to these removals, but Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot stated that the removal of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) content was necessary to maintain unity and focus on the military’s mission. Since the removal, pages about figures like Jackie Robinson, Tuskegee Airmen, Navajo Code Talkers, and Colin Powell have been restored, but many others remain down.
Experts like Nika White warn that erasing the contributions of historically marginalized individuals from military history is a form of historical revisionism that diminishes their legacies. The decision to remove such content is viewed as an attack on truth and an attempt to prioritize white participation and heroism in history. Veterans and scholars alike express concern over the erasure of significant military contributions made by Black, Latino, and female veterans, arguing that this action goes against the principles of diversity and inclusion.
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