Air Force reverses decision to pull course with Tuskegee Airmen following backlash
The Tuskegee Airmen were the country’s first all-Black military airmen who fought during World War II.
This story has been updated.
The Air Force has reversed its decision to remove courses with videos relating to the legendary Tuskegee Airmen following backlash.
The military branch had pulled courses with videos involving the famed Black pilots to comply with President Donald Trump’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Leon Butler, president of The Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., a nonprofit organization celebrating the legacy of the historic aviators, said the Air Force has corrected its “error.”
The Air Force initially confirmed to the San Antonio Express-News that it was pulling the videos, telling the outlet in a statement that it plans to “fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency and in alignment with national security objectives.”
A revised course that will include the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots has been approved and will be instated on Monday.
"The revised training which focuses on the documented historic legacy and decorated valor with which these units and Airmen fought for our Nation in World War II and beyond will continue on 27 January," Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, head of Air Education and Training Command said in a statement.
"The Air Force has not removed these Airmen's incredible heritage from any training. Their personal examples of service, sacrifice and combat effectiveness are illustrative of the core values, character and warrior ethos necessary to be an Airman and Guardian,” he continued.
The outlet reported that the videos were used in DEI training courses at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, where new Air Force recruits undergo basic training. The removal of the videos was seen as an attempt by the Air Force to comply with a recent edict ordering the cancellation and removal of all DEI and DEI-related content and training.
Alabama congresswoman Terri Sewell had called on the Air Force to reverse its decision to pull the courses.
“The Tuskegee Airmen bravely fought and died for our freedoms before this nation even granted them the full benefits of citizenship. To strip them from the Air Force curriculum is an outrageous betrayal of our values as Americans. Their heroism is not ‘DEI.’ It is American history,” she said in a statement.
“I’m calling on the Air Force to immediately reverse this decision. We will not let our history be erased.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on social media Sunday that the decision “will not stand,” later stating, "This has been immediately reversed."
Social media users denounced the move on a Facebook page called Air Force amn/nco/snco, with one person calling it “malicious compliance, or just pure idiocy.”
“But that's not even DEI related, it's a part of our history,” one user wrote.
“Air Force, I'm ashamed of you accepting this. Stand up for all people, for your history and pride, and stop kowtowing to whatever stupid thing Trump demands,” another user said.
The Trump administration has been dismantling DEI programs across the federal government, with the president signing an executive order to terminate them as one of his first actions in office. That executive order has led to mass confusion across the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and Space Force as the branches scramble to comply with Trump’s anti-DEI agenda.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the country’s first all-Black military airmen who fought during World War II. Because Jim Crow laws were still enforced in much of the United States, these men faced discrimination within the Army as well. They trained and fought separately from their white counterparts because the military was segregated.
Their exploits were chronicled in the 2012 film “Red Tails,” starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrance Howard.
Upon my discharge from the Air Force, my white commanding officer presented me with framed artwork of the 'Red Tails.' It just reinforces for me the absolute necessity of preserving black history in our institutions.
"But that's not even DEI related, it's a part of our history," one user wrote
That's exactly why they've stopped it.... it's the promised white-washing of history they told us would happen with the "Make America Great Again" mantra... why is anyone surprised?? Sadly, it's only just begun.