TRUMP'S DEI ORDERS PROMPT DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SCHOOLS TO PULL CIVIL RIGHTS BOOKS
As everything seems to be crumbling in its place, a new order has been introduced to the public. The federal education system has been supporting the Defense Department and that being said, they have been eliminating books that are related to DEI Programs in schools.
This was also after many orders had been set in the past few weeks, including putting a stop to cultural clubs and putting a stop on websites that celebrate military women.
Removing Books and Historical Events in School
The order from the Department of Defense Education Activity was issued on February 6, making schools like elementary institutions in the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell in Kentucky to eliminate books that don't align with Trump’s political views or simply completely remove DEI Programs in schools.
The order states that employees at 161 elementary and high schools should ensure compliance with executive orders and recent DEI orders, but librarians and school officials are broadly interpreting the order to include any books dealing with issues that could be perceived as promoting one group over another meaning that books about slavery, civil rights history, or treatment of Native Americans could be removed.
With these confusing orders, schools have already been told they can’t host events recognizing Black History Month and other cultural observances anymore.
The orders and documents banned cultural events, which resulted in schools immediately canceling Black History Month events and removing bulletin boards referencing Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks.
One Writer Shares Her Thoughts
On Sunday, the book Freckleface Strawberry was banned by the U.S. Department of Defense in a recent purge of books tied to race, gender, and sexuality following President Donald Trump‘s executive order targeting topics related to diversity in the military.
“It is a great shock for me to learn that my first book, Freckleface Strawberry, has been banned by the Trump Administration from schools run by the Department of Defense,” Julian Moore wrote.
The book is a semi-autobiographical story about a seven-year-old girl who dislikes her freckles but eventually learns to live with them when she realizes that she is different ‘just like everybody else.' The book was written for Moore's children and for other kids to remind them that all people struggle but are united by our humanity and our community.
The Defense Department previously sent a memo to parents at Pentagon schools serving US military families, noting that access to library books would be suspended for a week during a “compliance review” of books that the administration accuses of “radical indoctrination” amid Trump’s campaign against DEI.
Backlash in the Military Community
A group of roughly two dozen military families disrupted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit to Stuttgart, Germany, booing him and chanting “DEI!” in support of DEI in schools.
This protest highlights the divisions surrounding policies within the military community. Furthermore, on the same day, fifty-five students walked out of Patch Middle School in Stuttgart, protesting both the curriculum changes and the removal of several academic programs.
These acts demonstrates the growing concern among students about the direction of their education.
Bigger Problems Need a Call for Equality
The American Library Association and the American Association of School Librarians lambasted the guidance as a “shameful censorship” decree that erases history and is designed to “silence the voices of Americans whose lives reflect the diversity of our nation.”
It is indeed essential to recognize the diverse needs of all students and to provide them with the support they need to succeed, but by removing books related to DEI Programs in schools, students wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn about the diversity of the nation.
ALA and the American Association of School Librarians released the following statement:
“By ordering the removal and suppression of learning materials and activities in its schools and libraries, the DoDEA is engaging in censorship of legitimate views and opinions that violate the very first amendments rights of those who serve our nation and their families, thereby denying them the very freedoms they have pledged to protect with their lives.”
The controversy surrounding curriculum changes in DoDEA schools is far from resolved. The future of education for military-connected children hangs in the balance, and the coming months will be crucial in determining the direction the DoDEA takes.
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