The tails of the Alabama Air National Guard’s F-35 Lightnings are painted red, like those of the Guard’s F-16s before them. It’s an homage to the famed Alabama-based unit of the Tuskegee Airmen, who flew red-tailed P-51 Mustangs during World War II.
The squadron, which trained in the state, was the nation’s first to be comprised of Black military pilots, shattering racial barriers and racist beliefs about the capabilities of Black pilots. Their success in combat paved the way for the desegregation of the U.S. military, a story that is interwoven in state and U.S. history. Yet for a moment after President Donald Trump took office, that history was almost scrubbed by the Air Force.
The service removed training videos of the Tuskegee Airmen along with ones showing the World War II contributions of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, at its basic training base in San Antonio, where airmen have passed through for generations.
Although the move was swiftly rescinded after a bipartisan outcry, the fact that it happened even momentarily is evidence of the confusion resulting from the avalanche of executive orders and other actions from Trump since he began his second term in the White House. The administration has been forced to walk back some actions that have caused widespread chaos, such as a memorandum freezing federal grants and loans.
The specific one that led to the Air Force decision also was met with with a mix of alarm and confusion over its meaning. The order calls for an end to diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government, including with any contractors or organizations that receive any federal money.
In addition to the Air Force’s action, the Army pulled its sexual assault regulations off websites before restoring them. A notice from the Defense Intelligence Agency said it was pausing “until further notice” special observances that included Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance, Women’s Equality Day and National American Indian Heritage Month.
There were reports that employees at the CIA were notified there would be no Black History Month acknowledgements. A CIA spokesman said in a statement that the the agency was complying with the order and “OPM Implementing Guidance,” referring to the Office of Personnel Management. “The Office of Diversity and Inclusion has been dissolved, along with component DEI programs,” the CIA statement said.
The wide sweep of reactions to Trump’s DEI order alarmed those who have fought for inclusion and recognition for decades and who fear that more than efforts to diversify the federal workforce are at stake. In some cases, the actions taken to comply with the directive risk whitewashing parts of the nation’s history and culture.
Adia Harvey Wingfield, a professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, said a 2023 Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions was clear on restricting opportunities to specific groups. But she said it’s “a far cry from that to not including information about groups that are basic parts of history like the Tuskegee Airmen.”
She said many places are “unclear about exactly where the legal landscape stands, but very aware about the political landscape and wanting to make sure that they are not doing things that will attract attention, negative press or negative responses” from the Trump administration.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said some agencies may have gone too far in reacting to the DEI executive order.
“As far as I know, this White House certainly still intends to celebrate, and we will continue to celebrate American history and the contributions that all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed, have made to our great country,” she said during a media briefing.
Yet confusion continued. On Friday, Trump issued a proclamation recognizing Black History Month, while on the same day the Defense Department issued a news release proclaiming “Identity Months Dead at DOD.”
The Air Force’s initial action was one of the most publicized when it took down DEI courses that included videos about the Tuskegee Airmen and the WASPs. In later announcing the reversal, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in a statement that the initial removal was because the service, like other agencies, had to move swiftly to comply with Trump’s executive order with “no equivocation, no slow-rolling, no foot-dragging.”
Speaking Friday on Fox & Friends, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Tuskegee Airmen were an example of “courageous merit” and that cutting their video was “something I like to call malicious implementation.”
“An outfit like the Tuskegee Airmen, we will salute and we will elevate,” Hegseth said. “And we want every service member to understand what they did. That’s very different than the DEI programs.”
Amy McGrath, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who was the first woman to fly an F-18 fighter plane in combat, said the move by the Air Force was understandable because military leaders are trying to avoid missteps with the new administration.
“They’re afraid that if they do basic leadership, which is embracing everyone no matter what race, no matter what religion, no matter what gender, that’s going to be labeled as ‘woke’ or ‘Marxist’,’” said McGrath, who was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky in 2020 against Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell.
Including the historical achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen or WASPs never should have been in question, said McGrath, a Naval Academy graduate, adding that she venerated the WASPs.
“They provided an extraordinary service to our country because there were not enough pilots, men or women, to do the jobs that we needed done,” she said, noting that the women did not receive veterans benefits.
Lisa Taylor, executive director of the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas, said she was incredulous when she heard the content might be removed from the training base.
“The stories are historical and also uplifting and inspiring for all men and women who have found themselves wondering if they were good enough socially, mentally and technologically,” she said. “They are the anecdotes that might provide someone with the final push to take the next step in becoming who she or he longs to be.”
She said she was relieved when the training material was restored.
All around Tuskegee, the accomplishments of the Black fighter squadron are celebrated amid the state’s complex history.
The National Park Service has a museum at the site where the airmen trained that tells of the pilots’ combat success and their struggles in a segregated nation. Tuskegee’s town square has a historic marker that describes the airmen as part of the city’s rich history.
The decision to remove the videos was met with disbelief from some of the descendants of those who were part of the squadron
“I was angry,” said Alysyn Harvey-Greene. Her 101-year-old father, retired Air Force Lt. Col. James Harvey III, was one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. “It’s been very disturbing. We fought for so long to get this history out.”
Harvey finished his pilot training as the war in Europe was winding down, but flew combat missions in Korea. In 1949, he and other Tuskegee Airmen won the Air Force’s inaugural Fighter Gunnery “Top Gun Meet” — where the best Air Force pilot teams competed — but were not recognized as the winner for 73 years.
“For so long, we were not able to tell the story,” Harvey-Greene said.
Janet Harrison, a retired state worker who lives in Tuskegee and was at the town square on a recent day, said she wishes more were taught about Black history, especially the contributions during World War II. She described her spirit being lifted when the training center in Texas reversed its decision and restored the videos.
But the weariness was palpable as she spoke about her initial thoughts when hearing they had been removed: “When is this going to stop?”
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Fields reported from Washington.
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Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Aamer Madhani, in Washington, Jocelyn Gecker, in San Francisco, and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.
