The U.S. military has historically been an engine for cultural and social change in America. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's vision for the armed forces he leads runs counter to that. In comments Tuesday to hundreds military leaders and their chief enlisted advisers, Hegseth made clear he wasn't interested in a diverse or inclusive force. Hegseth has taken on any program that can be labeled diversity, equity or inclusion, as well as targeting transgender personnel. Hegseth's actions — and plans for more — are a reversal of the role the American military has often played.
The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21. That's according to a memo issued to the force on Friday. It is the broadest and most detailed directive so far on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's campaign to rid the military of diversity and equity programs, policies and instructional materials. And it follows similar efforts to remove hundreds of books from the libraries at the military academies. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo.
It was five years ago this month that COVID-19-fueled incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders became so frequent that a reporting center was formed. Stop AAPI Hate legitimized fears of a concurrent pandemic of xenophobia. Their data contributed to key legislation including the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. That time was also a turning point that galvanized groups and young people to engage in more activism within the Asian American community. Now, supporters of fighting anti-Asian hate are worried it will only intensify in a political climate of anti-immigrant policies, English-only laws and DEI rollbacks. So Stop AAPI Hate has expanded its focus beyond being a data hub to become a source of education on these issues.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the claim that white people are being persecuted in his country is a "completely false narrative." It's his latest attempt to push back against allegations made by U.S. President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and some white minority groups in South Africa. South African-born Musk repeated a claim this weekend in a social media post that some of the country's political figures are "actively promoting white genocide." Ramaphosa said Monday "we should challenge the completely false narrative that our country is a place in which people of a certain race or culture are being targeted for persecution."
