What Colin Powell Would Say About the Pentagon DEI Purge
The former general and secretary of state told the author that a true leader is “a dealer in hope” — not in fear, chaos or anger.
Colin Powell always saw the bright side of things.
Photographer: Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images
The Defense Department has been roiled by the Donald Trump administration’s desire to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs his administration believes are divisive and unfair. This has manifested itself in closing offices focused on DEI; rescinding a variety of internal directives; restoring the names of military bases originally honoring Confederate generals; and adjusting websites to remove well-known military figures from Jackie Robinson to the heroic Navajo code talkers of World War II (after a public outcry, the Pentagon has said some web entries are being restored).
Additionally, the abrupt firing of two members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — Chairman C.Q. Brown and Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti — seems tied to their support for DEI programs, although this was not explicit in their dismissals.