WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21, according to a memo issued to the force on Friday.
It is the broadest and most detailed directive so far on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid the military of diversity and equity programs, policies and instructional materials. And it follows similar efforts to remove hundreds of books from the libraries at the military academies.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo, which was signed Friday by Timothy Dill, who is performing the duties of the defense undersecretary for personnel.
In addition, Hegseth put out a memo Friday ordering the military academies to make sure they are admitting students based solely on merit —- with “no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex.” He underlined the word “no,” but added that the schools can consider “unique athletic talent,” prior military service or those from a military prep school.
He said the secretaries of the services must certify within 30 days that the admissions offices are adhering to those standards. And he said the academies must rank student candidates by their “merit-based scores” within each nomination category.
Those categories include students whose parents are service members or were troops killed or injured in duty, as well as those nominated by the vice president, senators or members of Congress.
The memo on the latest library purge says that educational materials at the libraries “promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology are incompatible with the Department’s core mission.” It says department leaders must “promptly identify” books that are not compatible with that mission and sequester them by May 21.
By then, the memo says, additional guidance will be provided on how to cull that initial list and determine what should be removed and “determine an appropriate ultimate disposition” for those materials. It does not say what will happen to the books or whether they will be stored away or destroyed.
According to the memo, a temporary Academic Libraries Committee set up by the department will provide information on the review and decisions about the books. That panel provided a list of search terms to use in the initial identification of the books to be pulled and reviewed.
The search terms include: affirmative action, anti-racism, critical race theory, discrimination, diversity, gender dysphoria, gender identity and transition, transgender, transsexual and white privilege.
Early last month the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Hegseth’s office to get rid of those that promote DEI.
About two weeks later, the Army and Air Force libraries were told to go through their stacks to find books related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The Naval Academy’s purge led to the removal of books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” based on the list of 381 books that have been taken out of its library.
In addition to Angelou’s award-winning book, the list includes “Memorializing the Holocaust,” which deals with Holocaust memorials; “Half American,” about African Americans in World War II; “A Respectable Woman,” about the public roles of African American women in 19th century New York; and “Pursuing Trayvon Martin,” about the 2012 shooting of the Black 17-year-old boy in Florida that raised questions about racial profiling.
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