Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21, according to a memo issued to the force on Friday.
It is the broadest and most detailed directive so far on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid the military of diversity and equity programs, policies and instructional materials. And it follows similar efforts to remove hundreds of books from the libraries at the military academies.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo, which was signed Friday by Timothy Dill, who is performing the duties of the defense undersecretary for personnel.
In addition, Hegseth put out a memo Friday ordering the military academies to make sure they are admitting students based solely on merit —- with “no consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex.” He underlined the word “no,” but added that the schools can consider “unique athletic talent,” prior military service or those from a military prep school.
He said the secretaries of the services must certify within 30 days that the admissions offices are adhering to those standards. And he said the academies must rank student candidates by their “merit-based scores” within each nomination category.
Those categories include students whose parents are service members or were troops killed or injured in duty, as well as those nominated by the vice president, senators or members of Congress.
The memo on the latest library purge says that educational materials at the libraries “promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology are incompatible with the Department’s core mission.” It says department leaders must “promptly identify” books that are not compatible with that mission and sequester them by May 21.
By then, the memo says, additional guidance will be provided on how to cull that initial list and determine what should be removed and “determine an appropriate ultimate disposition” for those materials. It does not say what will happen to the books or whether they will be stored away or destroyed.
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
