US President Donald Trump's White House marked February as Black History Month amid the Pentagon’s declaration that all “identity months" are "dead.”
According to the Associated Press, the White House and the Defense Department issued conflicting messages for the citizens at the end of January.
The White House on Friday, January 31, 2025, issued an order in which it recognised February as Black History Month, while around the same time, the Pentagon, in a new guidance, declared "identity months dead.”
The White House proclamation calls for “public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities,” without any elaboration of what constitutes “appropriate.”
The proclamation said, “This National Black History Month, as America prepares to enter a historic Golden Age. I want to extend my tremendous gratitude to Black Americans for all they have done to bring us to this moment and for the many future contributions they will make as we advance into a future of limitless possibility under my administration.”
Trump, in the announcement, noted the contributions of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Thomas Sowell, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and golfer Tiger Woods.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department, in a news release with the title “Identity Months Dead at DOD,” stated that official resources of the country will no longer celebrate cultural awareness months, including Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
The press release read, “We are proud of our warriors and their history, but we will focus on the character of their service instead of their immutable characteristics.”
Notably, the declaration came at a time when Trump has been targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and ending them in the first week of his administration, arguing that DEI initiatives are “discrimination” and insisting that the US must become a merit-based society.
