🗣️ Dismantling His Master's Voice: Trump Appointee Proudly Cancels Trump's Own DEI Initiative
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasts about eliminating a women's security program signed into law by Trump himself, revealing the contradictions in the administration.
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
The person in charge of the U.S. military, Pete Hegseth, canceled a program that was supposed to help get more women involved in keeping peace and solving conflicts around the world. What's really strange is that this program was actually created when Donald Trump was president the first time, but now Trump's new military leader is calling it a "woke" program that needs to be stopped. Many experts think having different kinds of people involved in peace talks actually makes peace last longer, but the military has decided to cancel this program anyway, along with other programs that celebrate the different backgrounds of American soldiers.
🗝️ Takeaways
🔍 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has canceled the Women, Peace and Security program that was originally signed into law by Trump in 2017
📝 Hegseth described the program as a "woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative" despite its origins in the previous Trump administration
🏛️ The cancellation is part of a broader effort to eliminate all DEI initiatives at the Department of Defense following Trump's executive order
🤔 The program was designed to enhance security by increasing women's participation in peace processes, not as an identity politics exercise
📊 Research shows women's participation in peace processes increases the durability of peace agreements by 35%
📚 The Pentagon has also ended observances like Black History Month and removed books, including Maya Angelou's memoir, from military libraries
🛡️ The DEI rollback affects military effectiveness by limiting the perspectives available for security planning and intelligence gathering
Pentagon Chief Hegseth's DEI Rollback: When Trump's Policies Aren't "Trump" Enough
The wheels of political irony turn once again in Washington as we witness the spectacle of Trump-appointed officials dismantling programs signed into law by none other than Trump himself.
Es como ver a un perro mordiéndose su propia cola — like watching a dog biting its own tail.
The Contradiction at the Pentagon
On April 29, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth proudly announced the cancellation of the Pentagon's Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program, an initiative designed to increase the participation of women in national security sectors. What makes this particularly notable is that this program wasn't some "radical leftist agenda" as Hegseth would have us believe — it was established under the Women, Peace and Security Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2017.1
Hegseth described the program as a "woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative" that distracted from the Pentagon's core mission of warfighting. The irony of calling a Trump-signed law a "Biden initiative" seems lost on our Defense Secretary, who stated that the Department would now only execute the minimum WPS requirements mandated by law and would seek to eliminate the program entirely in the next budget cycle.2
Understanding the Women, Peace and Security Act
For those unfamiliar with this program, the Women, Peace and Security Act of 2017 was designed to promote the role of women in conflict prevention, resolution, countering violent extremism, and post-conflict stability. Far from being a radical DEI initiative, the Trump administration championed it as a means to enhance national security by leveraging women's participation in peace and security efforts.3
The program recognized what countless studies have shown: that women's participation in peace processes leads to more durable peace agreements. It wasn't about quotas or optics but about effectiveness. When women participate in peace processes, there is a 35% increase in the probability that peace agreements will last at least 15 years. This isn't "woke" politics — it's pragmatic security policy.
Pero claro, para los que ven fantasmas de "wokeness" en cada esquina, hasta los programas más pragmáticos se convierten en enemigos imaginarios — For those who see "wokeness" ghosts around every corner, even the most pragmatic programs become imaginary enemies.
The Broader DEI Rollback
Following President Trump's executive order to terminate federal DEI programs, Hegseth's cancellation of the WPS program is part of a larger effort to eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the Department of Defense.4
Under Hegseth's leadership, the Pentagon has also ended observances of identity-related commemorations such as Black History Month and removed certain books, including Maya Angelou's memoir, from the Naval Academy's library.
Let that sink in: the U.S. military, which integrates people from all backgrounds into a unified fighting force, is now treating the acknowledgment of Black history as a threat to national security. As someone whose ancestors have been on this continent since before the United States existed, watching the erasure of our diverse histories feels like a direct attack on our very existence.
The Politics of Erasure
What we're witnessing isn't just about bureaucratic reshuffling or budget priorities. It's about whose stories get told, whose contributions are recognized, and whose presence is acknowledged in our institutions.
When Hegseth says he will implement "merit-based, color-blind policies" for promotions and assignments, he's invoking a familiar trope: that recognizing diversity somehow undermines merit.
This false dichotomy ignores the reality that systemic barriers have historically prevented true merit-based advancement for many groups.
Nos quieren hacer creer que la justicia es ciega, pero la historia nos muestra que siempre ha tenido preferencias muy claras — They want us to believe that justice is blind, but history shows us it has always had very clear preferences.
For those of us in the borderlands, where military presence is a daily reality, these shifts in Pentagon policy hit close to home. Many of our community members serve in the armed forces, seeking opportunity and a chance to serve a country that often doesn't fully embrace them. Programs like WPS represented small acknowledgments that diverse perspectives strengthen our security apparatus.
The Historical Context
It's important to understand that what Hegseth describes as "distractions" from the Pentagon's core mission have historically been crucial to military effectiveness. The integration of the armed forces under President Truman wasn't just about civil rights — it was about maximizing military capability by drawing from the full talent pool of Americans. The same is true for the inclusion of women in combat roles and the acknowledgment of LGBTQ+ service members.
The Women, Peace and Security program continued this tradition by recognizing that women's perspectives in conflict zones provide strategic intelligence that might otherwise be missed. Women often have different access points in communities and can gather different types of information. This isn't about identity politics — it's about smart security.
Yet Hegseth claims, without evidence, that the Biden administration "distorted and weaponized" the WPS program, shifting it away from its original security-focused intent. This claim allows him to position himself as preserving Trump's "true" vision while dismantling Trump's actual policy.
The Impact on Communities
For communities like ours in the borderlands, the rollback of DEI initiatives has ripple effects beyond the Pentagon. It signals which voices are valued in policy discussions and which are relegated to the margins.
When the Department of Defense — one of the largest employers in the country — declares that acknowledging diverse histories and perspectives is contrary to its mission, it sends a chilling message about whose patriotism counts and whose doesn't.
For Indigenous communities who have served in the U.S. military at higher rates than almost any other demographic group, the erasure of cultural acknowledgment feels particularly acute. Native Americans have the highest per-capita involvement of any population serving in the U.S. military. Yet programs acknowledging their contributions are now branded as "divisive."
The Resistance Continues
Despite these setbacks, the struggle for genuine inclusion continues. Throughout history, movements for justice have faced backlash, but they have never been permanently reversed.
The current administration may roll back formal DEI programs, but they cannot erase America's demographic reality or the strategic necessity of drawing from our full national talent pool. The military, perhaps more than any other institution, must eventually confront the reality that its effectiveness depends on its ability to integrate diverse perspectives.
For those of us continuing the resistance during this second Trump administration, it's important to document these rollbacks while building alternative structures of support and recognition. While the formal acknowledgment of our histories may be temporarily removed from Pentagon observances, they live on in our communities, our organizing, and our continued presence in every institution.
What You Can Do
In the face of these challenges, there are concrete actions we can take:
Document and share these policy changes: Knowledge is power, and making sure these rollbacks don't happen silently is the first step in resistance.
Support organizations that continue DEI work outside government structures: Many nonprofits and community organizations continue this vital work even as federal programs are cut.
Engage with local military communities: Many service members come from diverse backgrounds and may feel the impact of these changes. Building solidarity across military/civilian divides strengthens our movement.
Prepare for the long game: Policy pendulums swing both ways. Document what works, what doesn't, and build the case for inclusive security policies that can be implemented when political circumstances shift.
Support independent media covering these stories: As mainstream outlets often miss the nuances of these policy shifts, independent journalists play a crucial role in keeping communities informed.
The path forward isn't easy, but it's one we've walked before. From the borderlands, where cultures meet and sometimes clash, we understand that true security comes not from erasing difference but from building bridges across it.
La lucha sigue — the struggle continues.
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What are your thoughts on the Pentagon's DEI rollbacks? How do these policy shifts affect your community?
Leave a comment below sharing your experiences or asking questions about how these changes impact security policy and diversity in our institutions.
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Insanity -- and so destructive!