**FILE** Tuskegee Airmen on the tarmac during World War II (Color by Sightglass)
**FILE** Tuskegee Airmen on the tarmac during World War II (Color by Sightglass)

Amid President Donald Trump’s ban on federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, many companies and government entities are struggling to navigate the intricacies of an anti-DEI society, with some controversial measures leading to national criticism and public scrutiny. One such example is the U.S. Air Force temporarily removing courses with videos of the historic Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, from the basic military training curriculum last week to ensure compliance with Trump’s recent executive order. 

“The service and sacrifice of the Tuskegee Airmen and the WASPS, who were also removed from the Air Force’s training courses, are an essential part of American history and carried significant weight in the World War II veteran community,” said Tuskegee Airmen Inc. in a statement late Saturday.

The national nonprofit emphasized they “strongly opposed” the decision to remove courses.

“We believe the content of these courses does not promote one category of service member or citizen over another,” the nonprofit noted. “They are simply a part of American military history that all service members should be aware of.”

The Tuskegee Airmen were the nation’s first Black military pilots, who flew more than 1,500 missions in a segregated unit during World War II. The WASPs represent the coalition of women pilots who ferried warplanes from the assembly lines to airfields where they were shipped off to war, freeing up male pilots for combat missions.

Many congressional leaders stood in solidarity with history and took to social media to voice their disapproval of the apparent removal, including Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said the ban was “immediately reversed” on X on Sunday.  

“I have no doubt Secretary Hegseth will correct and get to the bottom of the malicious compliance we’ve seen in recent days,” Britt wrote in a post on X on Sunday, to which Hegseth later replied: “Amen! We’re all over it senator. This will not stand.”

Revised training indeed officially resumed as of Jan. 27, and no Airmen or Guardians missed the block of instruction. However, one group of trainees had the training delayed, said Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, who leads the Air Education and Training Command, in a statement Sunday. 

Robinson clarified that no curriculum or content honoring the Tuskegee Airmen or WASPs had been removed. Rather, a “lesson block” containing the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP videos “went into revision” to remove DEI content.

Combating Anti-DEI Efforts 

Moreover, the controversy demonstrated a heightened sense of distrust and confusion among institutions and communities on where the future of diversity lies.  

Despite the executive order only applying to federal agencies, some major companies have followed suit in scaling back on DEI initiatives, including Amazon, Target, and Meta.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and members of the National Action Network (NAN) have vowed to boycott companies that comply with Trump’s agenda, and instead laude the entities devoted to inclusivity, such as Costco and JP Morgan Chase & Co., who each recently opposed anti-DEI pushback. 

In response, a group of NAN activists — led by Sharpton — demonstrated their loyalties on Jan. 25 with a “Buy-In” at a Costco in East Harlem, New York, where supporters shopped and later received $25 gift cards. 

“We are going shopping at Costco because we will stand with those who stand with us,” said Sharpton in an Instagram video as he walked into the New York store with 100 people. 

An updated list of other companies that have denounced their DEI policies can be found

Jada Ingleton is a Comcast Digital Equity Local Voices Lab contributing fellow through the ߲ݴý Informer. Born and raised in South Florida, she recently graduated from Howard University, where she...

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