In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, the federal education system overseeing Defense Department schools worldwide has directed the removal of library books addressing DEI topics.
The directive, issued on February 6 by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), impacts 161 elementary and high schools, including an elementary school at the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Schools have been instructed to “ensure compliance with executive orders and recent DoDEA guidance,” prompting a sweeping review of library collections.
The order is reportedly being interpreted broadly by librarians and school officials, leading to the removal of books on slavery, civil rights history, and the treatment of Native Americans. Any material perceived as promoting one group over another could be at risk.
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In addition to curbing access to DEI-related books, schools have been barred from hosting cultural observances, including Black History Month events. According to DoDEA spokesperson Will Griffin, the ban on “monthly cultural observances” has led to the removal of bulletin boards featuring figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks, as reported by Tennessee’s Clarksville Now.
The DoDEA guidelines also incorporate anti-trans measures, stipulating that girls’ programs should “only be accessed by biological females.” At Fort Campbell’s elementary school, librarians have been instructed to purge books containing “discriminatory equity ideology.” Staff members have until February 18 to complete the removals.
“The librarians are frustrated—they’re not getting any true guidance but are getting specific time frames,” an anonymous source told Clarksville Now, citing fear of reprisal.
The order could erase historical accounts of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell. The division was famously deployed to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to protect Black students during the desegregation of Central High School—a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement.
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A similar situation has reportedly unfolded in Europe, where a DoDEA school was compelled to remove books portraying immigration positively. Meanwhile, the U.S. Military Academy recently disbanded 12 campus clubs affiliated with ethnic and gender groups, including the National Society of Black Engineers, as reported by Stars and Stripes.
Trump’s executive orders, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” and “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” underpin these actions.
The American Library Association and the American Association of School Librarians have condemned the guidance as “shameful censorship,” arguing it erases history and suppresses diverse voices.
“By ordering the removal and suppression of learning materials and activities in its schools and libraries, the DoDEA is engaging in censorship of legitimate views and opinions that violates the First Amendment rights of those who serve our nation and their families, thereby denying them the very freedoms they have pledged to protect with their lives,” the groups said in a joint statement.
“The brave people who defend us deserve to exercise the rights they protect, and their children deserve the right to read a broad array of materials and learn from a range of perspectives that reflect the abundance of ideas from all Americans,” the statement added.
