The Rolling Tide of DEI Erasure: The Nefarious Intent of Rewriting America’s Narrative

By Norman Franklin

Norman Franklin

There is always more to it than meets the eye. Ulterior motives lie behind every political maneuver, and the consequences often ripple far into the future.

For a decade, waves of malcontent with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives have washed upon the shores of the business and educational sectors. Marginalized communities, people of color, and minorities have recognized the underlying white backlash. We have always understood what was happening.

Executive Order 14151, signed on January 20, unleashed a tsunami that swept away equitable gains in the workplace, college admissions, and historical representation. The accomplishments of women and people of color are being systematically erased from the pages of history.

DEI policies were never about unfair advantages; they were designed to correct systemic injustices. Yet, white America has chosen to buy into a false narrative—a manufactured data set meant to justify opposition to these corrective policies.

The rollback of DEI initiatives extends beyond mere policy elimination; it stretches into the realm of historical erasure. The attempt to retroactively strip the achievements of women and people of color by attributing their success solely to DEI policies is both irrational and dangerous.

Recent efforts to erase minority contributions from historical records distort the very fabric of America’s history. By directive of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, any references to African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and women are being removed from the Arlington National Cemetery website. Searches will now only retrieve the contributions of white veterans—a digital form of unmarked graves.

For instance, the website now omits any mention of Four-Star General Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is interred in those hallowed grounds. Powell’s leadership during Operation Desert Storm led to a swift and decisive victory. His Powell Doctrine, which emphasized overwhelming force, clear objectives, and an exit strategy, shaped military strategy for decades. Yet, his legacy, along with those of the Tuskegee Airmen, the Choctaw Code Talkers, and the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, has been scrubbed from history.

This is not collateral damage; it is a calculated form of psychological subjugation.

Historical erasure carries long-term consequences. It undermines the self-worth of marginalized communities and diminishes the recognition of women who have poured their energy and spilled their blood in service of the nation. Their achievements are being sacrificed at the altar of a culture war.

The psychological and social impacts of historical erasure are detrimental to national welfare. While older generations resist a return to a bygone era of exclusion, the shaping of young minds is at stake. Future generations will be denied role models who reflect their identities, leading to internalized feelings of inferiority and diminished potential. A lack of representation reinforces the false narrative that American greatness stems from only one demographic.

The omission of minority figures from historical records perpetuates a Jim Crow mindset. Without diverse narratives, marginalized communities risk normalizing a limited sense of self-worth and continued exclusion.

The erasure of minority contributions fuels the misconception that America’s success is solely the result of one race. This distortion reinforces systemic bias and weakens the collective effort to build a truly unified nation—one that lives up to its founding principles.

At the heart of this DEI erasure is a sinister motive: psychological gatekeeping. By systematically omitting and erasing prominent minority contributions, future generations are deprived of the knowledge of their potential. This calculated erasure ensures that history is rewritten to serve an exclusive narrative, rather than an inclusive truth.