Black History Month - The Celebration and The Fight Continues
Black History Month Canceled
This Black History Month started unlike any that I can ever remember in the 34 years of my life - canceled. The new Trump administration kicked things off with executive orders banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. This removed thousands of government workers from their jobs, banned books about immigration, race and gender, and removed the recognition of certain celebratory months - Black History Month being one of them.
Federal agencies and even the military went straight to work removing programs that aligned with the dreaded ideals of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Lessons about the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were removed from training programs at the United States Air Force. The Department of Education arranged plans to remove 200 web pages that “housed [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] resources and encouraged schools and institutions of higher education to promote or endorse harmful ideological programs.”
The executive orders trickled-down from federal agencies to the private sector. Companies like Google, Meta and Target fell in line removing their own Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. Google even removed observance months, such as Black History Month and Pride Month from its calendar app.
Black History Month Is Back!
Although Black History Month was removed from federal institutions, the White House decided to still celebrate. Executive orders be damned…
A celebratory event was held where black athletes such as Tiger Woods and Herschel Walker were in attendance. Men, who like Trump, have an uncanny knack for winning, chasing women and lying.
During the event, Trump made sure he denigrated Project 1619, a journalistic coalition that teaches the tragic, yet perseverant tales of slavery in the United States. Meanwhile, he praised his own history project coalition called “1776,” which seeks to remove “anti-American historical revisionism” and promote “patriotic education.”
It was a celebration white people won’t soon forget.
New Wave “DEI”
Trump has, however, been celebrating Black History with a “new wave” of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or “DEI” as he likes to call it. But, for him, this new DEI is not so new. In fact, he’s been practicing it since the 70s.
In 1973, he had his rental property staff mark applications of rent seekers with a “C” if they had darker skin complexion. In 1989, he paid for a newspaper advertisement demanding the death penalty be reinstated against five young black men also known as the “Central Park 5.” (It would later be found they were wrongfully convicted.)
When former president Barack Obama was campaigning, Trump asked the question of whether Obama really was a citizen born in the United States. A conspiracy theory at the time that turned-out to be false, but a question that needed to be raised.
Today, Trump's new wave DEI has taken on some different forms, but still has that old-school mentality at heart. Case in point, his cabinet nominations:
Pete Hegseth, now head of the Department of Defense, was not a standard four/five-star general pick and may have had a history of drunkenness, assault and womanizing, but he brings the out-of-pocket perspective the department needs.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., avid anti-vax conspiracy theorist and man with a worm in his brain, turns the standards of modern medicine on its head. A shake-up needed at the Health and Human Services Department.
Kash Patel as FBI Director makes sense because he has an anti-Trump enemies list of people to fight against. He also enjoys making children’s books depicting Trump as a king in his spare time.
But, the best “new wave DEI” initiative is Schedule F. This initiative seeks to, as Trump says, hire workers based on their “merits,” but with a twist. Instead of separating civilian employees and political employees who work in the government, a traditional norm, Schedule F seeks to turn civil employees (firefighters, science researchers, VA hospital staffers, janitors, etc.) into political employees. This means they get to be hired based on not only merits, but party affiliation, voting record and loyalty. This removes any biases…
It’s Time To Get Serious
Alright, it’s time to get serious.
Trump’s “new wave DEI” and refusal to recognize Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Pride Month and more has real consequences. We are seeing them already. From Nazi salutes to pardoned insurrectionists, to marching white supremacists, hate is spreading, and Trump has welcomed it. In fact, he’s summoned it.
I cannot sit idly by and watch as black, queer, trans and disabled friends, family and peers get hurt. I cannot sit and watch an administration attempt to revise history, suppress minorities and prop-up political loyalty above all. I may be a white man with no pedigree and no following, but I still have a voice. We all have a voice and it’s past time to speak out.
Black History Month And All Other Celebrations Live On
This administration is removing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and civil rights executive orders under the guise of making America “colorblind” and “merit-based.” The problem is saying you don’t see color invalidates people for who they are. It strips them of identity, culture, experiences, history, equality, and equity.
Do black lives matter? Yes. Do blue lives matter? Yes. Do white, latino, asian, native american, middle-eastern, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight and trans lives matter? Do all lives matter? Showing love to one, does not negate love for all others.
Trump said, “We will forge a society that is colorblind.”
NO.
We will see your color and love you for it. We will see your hair and love you for it. We will see your gender and love you for it. We will see your shape and love you for it. We will see your mind and love you for it. We will see your heart and love you for it. We will see your traditions and love you for it. We will see your differences, your passions, your uniqueness and love you for it! You are not invisible. You are seen!
Peace and love,
Danny