Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office requested “a passive approach to Juneteenth messaging” for the holiday on Thursday commemorating the end of slavery, according to an email obtained by Rolling Stone. The news was relayed by the Pentagon’s Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, which said it wasn’t planning to publish Juneteenth-related content online, per the email.
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865, after the Civil War ended, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the enslaved Americans in the state had been freed. June 19 was made into a federal holiday under a law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2021. The bill passed the Senate unanimously and with broad bipartisan support in the U.S. House.
Asked for comment, a Pentagon official says 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 (e.g., 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.”
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Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, the administration has led a crusade against the concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI. Hegseth has dutifully carried out Trump’s anti-diversity purge, declaring in a handwritten directive, posted to X, that “DEI is DEAD” at the Department of Defense. “Those who do not comply will no longer work here,” he added.
In a Senate hearing Wednesday, the former Fox News host said in his prepared testimony, “DEI is dead. We replaced it with a colorblind, gender-neutral, merit-based approach, and the force is responding incredibly.” {snip}
Hegseth banned the Defense Department from using official resources to celebrate heritage months — like Black History Month, the day before it began. {snip}
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