Here is a serving Department of Defense employee, who writes under a pen name to “avoid retaliation”, saying diversity will never die, meritocracy is a myth and dutifully spouts off all the slogan woke mindset of the nightmare years.
Technically the CRT/DEI/Woke agenda can be eliminated but once again, the 16+ years of indoctrination doesn’t go away overnight. Wherever this person is in the Pentagon or elsewhere in DOD, they will be pushing this Marxist-based ideology quietly in every decision and action they make.
The article also utilizes the malicious compliance that other DOD employees did (then told the media about) in order to negate SecDef’s directives. The examples of the Enola Gay, Tuskegee Airmen, etc were put back after either an AI bot or an angry employee “deleted” them.
Here is the mindset of a still-indoctrinated DOD employee:
The Myth of Meritocracy: Diversity will Never Die (DC Media Group)
by Lex King
Editor’s note about the author: Lex King is a Department of Defense employee, who was involved in multiple diversity groups and cultural celebrations. They are writing under a pen name to avoid retaliation. Their views are their own and not the Department of Defense.
First, they grounded the Tuskegee Airmen. Then, they silenced the Code Talkers.
They swatted the WASPs, sold the Enola Gay for scrap metal, and chiseled away one of the men at the center of the Marine Corps Memorial.
For someone so concerned about lethality, the only things Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth seems interested in attacking are multicultural potlucks. Thus far, he’s banned military academies from using affirmative action, ordered defense agencies to review their libraries for ‘woke’ books, and kicked openly trans service members from the ranks. Not to mention, the Department’s digital content refresh, which scrubbed any material promoting DEI from official websites and social media accounts.
Unfortunately, Hegseth has repeatedly failed to clearly define what he considers DEI, and in the rush to comply, agencies erased some of America’s most distinguished service members…all while repeating the importance of “meritocracy.” The Red Tails are remembered for their role in racial equality, but they’re also remembered as one of the most successful bomber escort squadrons of World War II. They should be the prime example of meritocracy. Instead, they were briefly wiped from course curriculum of Air training programs.
Those mishaps expose Hegseth’s true motive. He believes in meritocracy—as long as the meritorious individuals are straight white men. Anyone else isn’t an example, but a threat.
Hegseth and fellow members of Trump’s cabinet painted diversity programs as divisive and wasteful. That extended to observance months, like Hispanic Heritage Month and Pride Month, which Hegseth canceled in the inflammatory memo, “Identity Months Dead at DoD.” Some components took it a step further; a leaked memo from the Pentagon’s intelligence agency also canceled events related to two federal holidays: MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth. This memo release was reported in the New York Times and by AP.
Federal holidays are established in law by Congress. They all go through the same voting process and have the same status, yet as we near Memorial Day, a telling trend is unfolding. If observance months and federal holidays were truly a fiscal responsibility issue as claimed, then all 11 federal holidays would be treated the same. No social media posts. No workforce emails. No guest speakers, or celebrations, or other commemorations.
Yet on May 23, DoD published an article on their news page, “Patriotic Military Events Planned for Memorial Day Weekend at Coca-Cola 600 Race.” The very same type of article that had been commonplace for Juneteenth, before it was banned.
To be clear, I don’t believe the Department is inherently wrong for recognizing Memorial Day. They absolutely should, just as they should afford equal treatment to all 11 federal holidays. Hosting a Memorial Day event while banning MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth, when all three days share the exact same designation, is treating the events differently based solely on “DEI.”
What do Juneteenth and MLK Jr. Day have in common? The advancement of civil rights, the reflection on past wrongdoings, and the celebration of Black culture. Let’s cut through the smoke and mirrors. These holidays were targeted due to racial prejudice. Three events, all with the same status in U.S law, received different treatment due to a protected characteristic—textbook discrimination. It may not violate the letter of equal opportunity law, since it’s aimed at an activity and not a person, but it certainly violates the spirit of it, and it leaves a dark shadow hanging over the 2025 Memorial Day observances.
In previous years, hallowed, sacred days like Memorial Day were spent in quiet reflection, humility, and gratitude. They felt heavy with the weight of sacrifice. This year, it’s heavy with something else: Tension.
When Arlington National Cemetery scraped diversity-related content from its website, it seemed like even our most venerated veterans were under attack once again. At the very same cemetery, one can stand—as I have many times—outside the amphitheater and watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Sentinels from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment have guarded the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier every minute of every day since 1937. They even remained at their posts when black smoke poured from the Pentagon on 9/11. It’s one of the most prestigious assignments in the U.S. military, yet Sentinels don’t wear a rank. That way, they never outrank the individuals entombed.
Hegseth clearly knows the importance of the Tomb of the Unknown. He’s participated in wreath layings there before. But here’s what he seems to be missing: the Sentinels don’t know the names of the Unknowns. They don’t know their stories. They certainly don’t know what they looked like, and it doesn’t matter. Their devotion to the memorial remains steadfast, regardless of these details.
None of us know the Unknown’s heritage, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Right now, maybe that’s a good thing.
After all, if their lives don’t align with Hegseth’s distorted view of a meritocracy, how far would he go to make the Unknowns truly, completely, unknown?
STARRS NOTE: Here are a few images from the past of material DOD was handing out for Juneteenth. Take a look at the fist and that June is Independence Day, not July 4. DOD was paying for this stuff.
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