Medgar Evers — who served with the U.S. Army in World War II before coming home to fight segregation in the civil rights movement — is among notable Black veterans that have seen their histories wiped from sections on the Arlington National Cemetery’s website.
The changes follow President Donald Trump’s executive orders against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government and directives from Pentagon officials who have ordered for photos, links and other pages that “promote” DEI to be scrubbed from Department of Defense sites and platforms.
The moves have impacted how histories of Hispanic American and women service members are seen. Some links can be found via search and alternative means despite not prominently being on the site, The Washington Post noted.
The website’s changes were first reported by Civil War historian Kevin M. Levin, as well as Task & Purpose.
Trump, in remarks at the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in 2017, praised Evers as a “great American hero,” Mississippi Today’s Jerry Mitchell reported Monday.
“In Arlington, he lies beside men and women of all races, backgrounds, and walks of life who have served and sacrificed for our country,” Trump said of Evers, whose story is covered by the museum, at the time.
“Their headstones do not mark the color of their skin, but immortalize the courage of their deeds.”
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Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, who showed the president around the museum during his visit, told Mississippi Today that the removal has “got to be a mistake.”
“That involves a great American who served in the military and was one of the most courageous Americans of all time,” said Anderson of Evers, who fought in Normandy and later challenged the segregation of the University of Mississippi.
Evers, who also championed voting rights for Black Americans and fought to end segregation in public facilities, was assassinated by a Ku Klux Klan member in 1963.
Evers was posthumously awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year.
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The U.S. Army confirmed the removals of sections on the cemetery’s website to Mississippi Today, noting that those once in sections on Black, Hispanic and women’s history can now be seen in broader sections on “Prominent Military Figures” or those on accomplishments in “Science, Technology & Engineering.”
Levin, who brings teachers to visit Evers’ grave at Arlington each summer, told the newspaper that it’s “impossible” to discuss the civil rights icon’s accomplishments without bringing up his military service.
“There’s a straight line from his service to trying to expand voting rights and desegregate the University of Mississippi law school,” he said.
“Any attempt to minimize this history is being incredibly dishonest.”
