It is clear quite painfully that President Donald Trump is trying to whitewash America’s past. He is covering up the worst chapters of our history and once again delegating certain Americans who do not look or think like him to minor roles. The recent instance could be what he did to Black History Month. Yes, he apparently did proclaim in recognition of National Black History Month. He urged that we “observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”
The month praises “American heroes such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Justice Clarence Thomas, Thomas Sowell, and countless others …” (Martin Luther King Jr. is notably absent from this list.) It also goes on to praise Tiger Woods for pushing “the boundaries of excellence.” It even expresses “tremendous gratitude to black Americans for all they have done to bring us to this moment.” However, there was no reference to Black voters who supported him.
I had to go back to this clip.
Trump will defund schools teaching Black history.
But listen to the question. He was asked what if a liberal state decides to teach “new” history: like this country being built off the backs of slaves.
These people are not only revising… pic.twitter.com/cFsejGYCAb
— LanaQuest aka RosaSparks (@LqLana) October 21, 2024
Donald Trump’s proclamation looks like nothing more than just window dressing. He simply ignores everything that Black Americans have endured. Be it the original sin of slavery and that goes on to the Confederacy, Jim Crow laws, ongoing discrimination and segregation in employment, education, health care, policing, housing, and criminal justice. Trump actually never acknowledges any of this. Instead, he talks about “anti-white feeling” in America and talks about protecting the civil rights of white people. He has already started doing this by dismantling diversity programs.
Trump wants to get rid of Black History Month. He told CIA employees that all resource and affinity groups are canceled. No Black History Month or MLK celebrations or any other ethnic recognition months.
What’s next? Will he remove blacks from the history books? Will he start…
— Willie Ross Jr. Knee Deep (@RossKneeDeep) January 26, 2025
When it came to the Department of Defense, ‘identity months’ are dying; Black History Month was just the first target. On January 31, the Department of Defense declared that Black History Month is dead, along with all other “identity months.” Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, issued, “In the future, DoD Components and Military Departments will not use official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months, including National African American/Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and National American Indian Heritage Month. Service members and civilians remain permitted to attend these events in an unofficial capacity outside of duty hours.”
As per NBC News, the Defense Intelligence Agency “ordered a pause of all activities and events related to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month, Juneteenth, LGBTQ Pride Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day and other ‘special observances.” In fact, Military academies have reportedly removed posters that honored women and people of color.
Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Rep., posted on X that he was told a school at an overseas military base had removed pictures of Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. However, they did allow a picture of Leonardo da Vinci to remain. This isn’t surprising. It is Trump’s efforts to obliterate everything that can be remotely considered DEI— diversity, equity, and inclusion.
It reminds us of how Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s went after Communists. After all, a president who blatantly declares renaming the Gulf of Mexico and wants to ban any reporter from the White House who refused to call it the “Gulf of America.” It clearly depicts how he is not shying away from rewriting history.
Today our @AP White House reporter was denied access to the Oval Office because the Associated Press recognizes the international body of water on our southern coastline as the Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging President Donald Trump’s order to rename it the Gulf of America.…
— Tara Copp (@TaraCopp) February 11, 2025
The question lies, where is the end? Critics are of the opinion that Donald Trump will wipe Juneteenth CE, Cesar Chavez Day, or Indigenous Peoples Day from the federal calendar. Huntington Beach briefly suspended the recognition of all kinds of cultural observances in 2023. This includes Women’s History and Black History Month. Donald Trump’s administration is also trying its best to abandon recognizing or assisting anyone who is Black, Latino, Middle Eastern, or belongs to LGBTQ+.
