‘It puts a target on our back’: Trump’s war on DEI and beards in military further ostracizes Black service members

By Gerren Keith Gaynor, The Grio

“It’s just a complete slap in the face for all the minorities who actually give a damn about the country. We fight the good fight, just like everyone else,” said Marine Corps veteran Shadic Anderson.

The Trump administration’s war on DEI is having a chilling effect on Black military service members, as advocates warn it’s part of a broader objective to exclude Black Americans from every corner of the federal government.

Last week, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered highly politicized speeches before the military’s top generals and admirals. They doubled down on their belief that diversity, equity, and inclusion policies lower the standard of so-called “fitness” and “preparedness” for the U.S. Armed Forces.

The Trump administration’s perceived hostility toward Black military troops was especially exemplified in a reversal of a decades-old grooming policy that allowed mostly Black service members to receive waivers and avoid having to shave due to a skin condition known as pseudofolliculitis, or PFB, which causes painful bumps. The condition affects 60% of Black men, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.

“The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beardos,” Hegseth said to the room of hundreds of military leaders.

“The Pentagon’s new grooming standards expose a broader assault on Black identity despite its guise of ‘uniformity,’” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson in a statement provided to theGrio.

Read on about this controversial policy reversal.

Exclusionary practices such as these serve as reminders of the continued struggle for freedom and equality.

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