Defense Secretary Hegseth removes Black Navy officers from military promotions list
TheGrio...
“Even Stevie Wonder could see the racism that they’re perpetuating,” said Ed Anderson, an Air Force veteran and organizer for Common Defense, told theGrio.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is continuing to block Black and other minority military officers from promotions at the Department of Defense, appearing to prioritize his anti-DEI stance over merit.
According to the New York Times, the controversial Trump administration official disproportionately targeted women and minority officers in a recent decision to remove nine individuals from a list of 22 selected for promotion to be one-star admirals by a board of senior Navy admirals.
Three of the officers removed by Hegseth from the promotion list are women, and two are Black men. The others are white men. However, given the racial and gender makeup of those removed from the promotions list versus those who were not, Hegseth’s move stands in contrast to the military’s diverse makeup. For example, despite Black Americans making up 13% of the U.S. population, they overindex in the U.S. military at 19%.
The Times reports that Hegseth’s removal of minority and women officers appeared to “violate the rules governing a promotion system,” which are supposed to be “apolitical and merit-based.”
This comes a couple of months after Hegseth blocked the promotion of two Black Army officers to one-star generals, even as the U.S. military’s leadership remains overwhelmingly white under the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth have taken a hard stance on DEI, using the broad term to suggest that previous administrations prioritized race and gender more than preparedness in the U.S. military, which has been disputed by countless former military leaders and advocates.
Military and veteran advocates say this series of actions targets Black servicemembers, including the firing of top-ranking officers like former Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr., who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and implementing anti-DEI policies like the ending of a grooming policy that allowed Black men with skin conditions to waive rules around shaving their beards.
Critics say these actions create an unwelcoming environment for Black and minority military men and women, who make up 43% of the 1.3 million U.S. troops.
“He’s not even hiding it anymore,” Ed Anderson, an Air Force veteran and organizer for Common Defense, an advocacy group for veterans and military servicemembers, said of Hegseth. Anderson told theGrio, “The anti-DEI, let’s call it what it is. It’s racism. Period.”
The military advocate based in Georgia said he believes Hegseth and the president are trying to reverse the decades-long progress in diversifying the military’s ranks and the recent efforts to build a military leadership that reflects the diversity of the broader military population.
“He’s trying to turn the military back into what it was before World War II. That only certain people qualify for leadership roles if they meet a very narrow criteria. It’s distressing,” he told theGrio.
“When asked if the military officers seemingly removed improperly could have a legal case against the U.S. military, Anderson said, “Unfortunately, the way the military is set up, I think that pursuing an option like that will probably more than contribute to the killing of their careers.”
He added, “The only thing that’s going to change is when we get that this whole administration out of office. They’re going to drag their feet, they’re going to justify it, however they want to justify it.”
Anderson said he would like to see Congress use its legislative powers as a check and balance on the Trump administration.
“The oversight is surely, surely lacking, and they can’t keep saying that they don’t see this stuff,” he told theGrio. “I hate to say it, but even Stevie Wonder could see the racism that they’re perpetuating.”