Politics

DEI ban affects federal holidays

An infographic of pieces of paper spread out on top of a brown folder explaining what an executive order is.

President Donald Trump has signed many executive orders within the first few weeks of being in office. Zeinab Agbaria | The Washtenaw Voice

Yana Mcguire | Staff Writer

Federal agencies, who ordered a pause in all events and activities related to Black History Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day and eight other “special observances” due to President Trump’s executive orders, were left confused after the White House announced that it would celebrate Black History Month on Thursday, February 20th, according to AP News.

The Defense Intelligence Agency and Pentagon leaders received a memo on Friday, Jan. 31. stating that the banned 11 observances considered to be “identity months” are now “dead” and ordered a pause of all activities and events related to the observances. This memo was sent out to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order that promises to eradicate DEI policies, signed on the Trump Administration’s first day in office.

The 11 federal holidays on the list, according to ABC News included:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Black History Month
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Women’s History Month
LGBTQ Pride Month
Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Juneteenth
Women’s Equality Day
National Hispanic Heritage Month
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
National American Indian Heritage Month

However, the same day (Jan. 31), President Donald Trump signed a proclamation stating that “National Black History Month is an occasion to celebrate the contributions of so many black American patriots who have indelibly shaped our Nation’s history” and called for “public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”

This comes as a stark contrast to the Trump administration’s initiative to go after programs promoting diversity, equality and inclusion within the federal government, calling DEI programs “discrimination.”

According to a report from USA Today, Karsonya Wise Whitehead, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, states that President Trump’s proclamation is not enough to ease the concerns raised among employees at local, state, and federal levels.

“When our history is under attack, what do we do? We stand up, and we fight back,’’ Wise Whitehead said.

Terry Pruitt, president of the NAACP Saginaw Branch, believes that the fight is already in progress, according to WNEM TV5.

“I’m sure that our legal people are sitting in rooms right now, talking about how to challenge these things through the legal process, which is how we got many of the rights and things that we have now,” Pruitt said.

On Valentine’s Day, President Trump issued a two-week warning to colleges and schools to end all diversity initiatives or risk losing federal money, according to reporting from The Guardian.