The military helped Black Americans find belonging. Pete Hegseth wants to reverse course

[marmar]

The military helped Black Americans find belonging. Pete Hegseth wants to reverse course
The military has been a powerful force for social progress in the US. Under Trump, it is being used to undo it

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published June 22, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has tattoos all over his body — including a Jerusalem cross and the phrase Deus Vult (“God wills it”). Tattoos tell us a story about a person’s life and beliefs.

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Hegseth now oversees the United States military — one of the largest and most diverse organizations in the country, if not the world. He has made it his personal crusade to restore “warrior culture” by stomping out “woke” values, “diversity,” “DEI,” and “political correctness” in the military.

What Hegseth is really eradicating is the principle that the military should reflect and serve all Americans. His “warrior culture” is a mask for a 21st-century Jim Crow — one that uses colorblind language like “merit” and “fairness” to do the work of racism and other forms of prejudice, bigotry and intolerance.

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Hegseth has called the phrase “diversity is our strength” the “single dumbest phrase in military history.” Black History Month and other celebrations of America’s racial and ethnic diversity are, in his vision, dead.

Hegseth has been accused of advancing a militant version of White Christian nationalism and is working to infuse its values throughout the military. He has repeatedly framed America’s war against Iran—a Muslim nation—as a holy war and religious crusade. ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/06/22/the-military-helped-black-americans-find-belonging-pete-hegseth-wants-to-reverse-course/

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Secret Vetting and Blocked Promotions: Inside Hegseth's War on Diversity (New York Times Gift Article)

A Black admiral fixed one of the Navy’s worst messes. Mr. Hegseth blocked his promotion anyway.

Link to tweet

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/us/politics/hegseth-navy-blocked-promotions-diversity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rVA.BgXx.2JeTo7zxxqpg&smid=nytcore-ios-share

The Navy’s top leadership believed that Rear Adm. Stephen D. Barnett was by far the best choice to lead the command that oversees the Navy’s bases at home and abroad....

The officer, however, had a big strike against him. Like other Black military leaders, he had been encouraged by his superiors to help the Navy recruit and retain minority officers, who remain significantly underrepresented in the force. His years-old remarks on the importance of diversity had been flagged in a secret vetting process designed to weed out senior leaders whom Mr. Hegseth and his team pegged as a problem.

Instead of Admiral Barnett, Mr. Hegseth selected a white officer who was the Navy leadership’s third choice.

So far this year, Mr. Hegseth has blocked the promotions of at least 40 senior officers to general and admiral ranks. About half of those are women or members of minority groups.....

Mr. Hegseth has argued that the troops most likely to suffer discrimination in the military are white.

He traced the problem to the protests and racial reckoning that followed Mr. Floyd’s murder. The Pentagon’s generals and admirals, he wrote in his 2024 book, started searching for evidence of institutional bias that did not exist. In the process, he argued, they destroyed the military’s meritocratic culture.

“It’s Black over white. Female over male. Gay over straight,” Mr. Hegseth wrote.

Internal Pentagon studies told a different story. Nearly a third of Black U.S. military troops reported experiencing racial discrimination, harassment or both during a 12-month period, according to a survey conducted during President Trump’s first term.....

Mr. Hegseth has removed a total of 32 officers from Air Force and Navy one-star and two-star promotion lists, defense officials said. The only Black officer and the only female officer were removed from a Marine Corps promotion list. The two Marines’ promotions are in limbo.

Much of the vetting process has remained shrouded in secrecy. In some instances, officers up for promotions were not told that they had been removed from the lists. Mr. Hegseth also has refused to give Congress the names of officers pulled from the lists, officials said. The Senate’s version of the 2027 defense bill would require Mr. Hegseth to provide “a written justification and notification” when removing an officer from a promotion list......

Military officials, though, said they have noticed patterns. Officers who had commanded aircraft carriers or amphibious assault ships have been especially vulnerable. The reason: Those ships have public affairs sailors on board who documented their skippers participating in events related to diversity or the Covid vaccine.

Now those articles, videos and photos, posted on the Navy websites, were being used against them, current and former Navy officials said.