Is Pentagon erasing Juneteenth? A mail from Pete Hegseth's office to staff has raised concerns

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office sent an email to staff requesting a "passive approach" to celebrating Juneteenth. Observed on June 19 each year, Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the US and commemorated to end the slavery in the country, reported Rolling Stone.

Hegseth, whose work includes scrubbing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from the US military, downplayed the holiday, requesting that the Pentagon take a “passive approach” with its Juneteenth messaging this year.

Pete Hegseth on Juneteenth

This messaging request for Juneteenth was transmitted by the Pentagon’s office of the chief of public affairs. This office said it was not poised to publish web content related to Juneteenth, Rolling Stone reported. A Pentagon official told Rolling Stone that the Defense Department “may engage in...holiday celebrations that build camaraderie and esprit de corps...and recognition of historical events and notable figures where such recognition informs strategic thinking, reinforces our unity, and promotes meritocracy and accountability.”


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The mandate comes at a time when Trump's attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) across the government, including the US military, which Pete Hegseth has enthusiastically executed.

“The President’s guidance (lawful orders) is clear: No more DEI at @DeptofDefense,” Hegseth said in a January post on X. “The Pentagon will comply, immediately. No exceptions, name-changes, or delays,” Hegseth also wrote. He posted an apparently hand-written note that read “DOD ≠ DEI.”

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has continued to promote anti-DEI rhetoric, alleging that DEI policies endanger military personnel. He has not provided any evidence to corroborate his claim.

During a Senate hearing last week, he said, "DEI is dead. We replaced it with a colur-blind, gender-neutral, merit-based approach and the force is responding incredibly." When asked by Rolling Stone, the Pentagon said that the Department of Defense "may engage in the following activities, subject to applicable department guidance: holiday celebrations that build camaraderie and espirit de corps; outreach events (eg, recruiting engagements with all-male, all-female, or minority-serving academic institutions) where doing so directly supports DoD's mission; and recoginition of historical events and notable figures where such recogintion informs strategic thinking, reinforces our unity, and promotes meritocracy and accountability."

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Asked for comment by the Guardian, a defense spokesperson said: “We have nothing additional to provide on this.”

No DEI programs at Pentagon

Shortly after he was confirmed as Defense Secretary, Hegseth said there would be "no more" DEI programs at the Pentagon. This was followed by President Donald Trump's executive order ending DEI programs across the government.

The Pentagon went on to cancel a slew of historical and cultural annual events, including observances of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Pride Month, Holocaust Days of Remembrance, National Disability Employment Awareness Month and Women's History Month.

The Defense Department also marked thousands of files for deletion in a purge of so-called DEI content, the Associated Press reported in March. In late April, Hegseth declared that he had “proudly ENDED” the Pentagon’s Women, Peace, and Security program. The initiative was originally established under the Women, Peace, and Security Act, which Trump signed into law during his first term. The legislation aimed to ensure that the U.S. supported the meaningful inclusion of women in efforts to prevent, manage, and resolve violent conflicts through mediation and negotiation.

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Trump signed an executive order in January that eliminated DEI in the military. He also appeared to sound off on DEI initiatives in an address to graduating West Point cadets on 24 May.

“They subjected the armed forces to all manner of social projects and political causes, while leaving our borders undefended and depleting our arsenals to fight other countries’ wars. We fought for other countries’ borders but we didn’t fight for our own borders, but now we do like we have never fought before,” Trump said.

He also stated “the job of the US armed forces is not to host drag shows or transform foreign cultures”, an apparent allusion to drag shows on US military installations.