Hegseth reportedly orders ‘passive approach to Juneteenth' at Pentagon
The office of the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, requested 'a passive approach to Juneteenth messaging', according to an exclusive Rolling Stone report citing a Pentagon email.
This messaging request for Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free, was transmitted by the Pentagon's office of the chief of public affairs. This office said it was not poised to publish web content related to Juneteenth, Rolling Stone said.
The mandate comes amid Donald Trump's attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the government, including the US military, which Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has enthusiastically executed.
'The President's guidance (lawful orders) is clear: No more DEI at @DeptofDefense,' Hegseth said in a January post on X.
'The Pentagon will comply, immediately. No exceptions, name-changes, or delays,' Hegseth also wrote. He posted an apparently hand-written note that read 'DOD ≠ DEI.'
Hegseth has continued to espouse anti-DEI talking points, claiming without evidence that these policies put military service members in harm's way.
In prepared testimony to a Senate hearing this week, Rolling Stone noted, Hegseth said: 'DEI is dead. We replaced it with a color-blind, gender-neutral, merit-based approach, and the force is responding incredibly.'
In response to Rolling Stone's request for comment, the Pentagon said that the Department of Defense 'may engage in the following activities, subject to applicable department guidance: holiday celebrations that build camaraderie and esprit de corps; outreach events (eg, recruiting engagements with all-male, all-female, or minority-serving academic institutions) where doing so directly supports DoD's mission; and recognition of historical events and notable figures where such recognition informs strategic thinking, reinforces our unity, and promotes meritocracy and accountability'.
Asked for comment by the Guardian, a defense spokesperson said: 'We have nothing additional to provide on this.'
President Joe Biden in 2021 made 19 June a federal holiday. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery in the midst of the civil war.
Related: Students at Pentagon schools sue Hegseth over book bans on race and gender
It was not until this date in 1865 that enslaved Black persons in Galveston, Texas, were told about Lincoln's decree. While Robert E Lee had surrendered that April, some supporters of the Confederacy continued to fight.
Trump signed an executive order in January that eliminated DEI in the military. He also appeared to sound off on DEI initiatives in an address to graduating West Point cadets on 24 May.
'They subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes, while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries' wars. We fought for other countries' borders but we didn't fight for our own borders, but now we do like we have never fought before,' Trump said.
He also stated 'the job of the US armed forces is not to host drag shows or transform foreign cultures', an apparent allusion to drag shows on US military installations.
Biden's defense department ended drag shows on military bases in 2023 amid Republican criticism.
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