Trump Administration's DEI Purge Implies That Only White Is Right

on Feb 25, 2025

SAN DIEGO -- The Trump administration's petulant war on DEI -- and its subsequent purge of women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community from high-level government jobs -- puts me in a frame of mind where I'm thinking about the afterlife.

My wife believes in reincarnation, and she's convinced me that there might be something to that idea. She wants to come back as a dolphin. Not me. I want to be reincarnated as a white male.

For one thing, I'm tired of working this hard for this long and still having my talent and credentials questioned because of the color of my skin. As my wife and I used to tell our kids with a wagging finger as they were growing up, that's not OK

Also, just once, I'd like to enjoy the perks that seem to come from being born on third base. It must be nice to have people automatically assume that you're qualified to be admitted to a university or get a job because you were born white and male.

Finally, given how white men tend to vouch for another and validate each other's experience, it would be nice to be part of a good ol' boy system that dominates politics, media, business, academia, the criminal justice system and other American institutions.

Charles Q. Brown knows what I'm talking about. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- a decorated Air Force general who started out as a fighter pilot and spent his entire life climbing the ranks to become only the second Black officer to hold his position, along with the late Gen. Colin Powell -- is the latest casualty of the administration's brass-knuckled crusade to Make America White Again.

Brown was abruptly fired this week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an underqualified yet ultraconfident white man with little management experience who got his job after Vice President JD Vance -- acting as president of the Senate -- voted to break a 50-50 tie.

Apparently, Hegseth had the general in his sights for a while. When asked in a podcast interview last year what he would do to improve the Defense Department, he said bluntly: "First of all, you gotta fire, you know, you gotta fire the chairman of Joint Chiefs."

After the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, as protests spread across the nation, Brown posted a video message titled, "Here's What I'm Thinking About." He described the pressures that came as a result of being one of the few Black men in his unit. He recalled striving"to perform error-free" as a pilot and officer his whole life, but still facing racial discrimination. He said he'd long been questioned about his credentials, despite his accomplishments.

According to a 2021 Defense Department report, while African Americans made up at the time 17.2% of the 1.3 million active-duty service members, only 9% of officers were Black.

In one of his books, Hegseth was presumptuous enough to question whether Brown got the position in the first place because he was Black.

"Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We'll never know, but always doubt -- which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn't really much matter," Hegseth wrote.

This is not a good look. Not when men whisper that women who pass them in the climb up the corporate ladder "slept their way to the top." And not when white men -- who start the game of life with significant advantages stemming from the fact that the world was built for them -- have the gall to question the qualifications of anyone who isn't white.

Ironically, in 2020, Brown was nominated to be Air Force chief of the staff by President Trump during his first term. So Charles was "qualified" when he was nominated during Trump I, but suddenly became "unqualified" by the time Trump II rolled around?

The Trump administration doubles as a support group for white men who feel wronged by things such as affirmative action, multiculturalism or programs that foster diversity, equity and inclusion.

Its response is to do everything it can to make sure the top jobs in America are reserved for the only folks who are truly qualified to have them: white men. Says who? Other white men. That's convenient.

Are we sure that "DEI" doesn't describe white men? When they encounter accomplished women and people of color, they often seem dismissive, entitled and insecure.

========

To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.