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Could Trump’s Next Executive Order Roll Back Truman’s Historic Integration of the Armed Forces? [1]

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Date: 2025-03-17

While reading Bill Addis’ article, “A Black Hero’s History Erased and Restored by Anti-DEI Bigots,” I couldn’t help but think about the broader assault on military inclusivity. From Arlington Cemetery being stripped of content on Black and female veterans to the firing of Gen. CQ Brown and everything else Trump has done to undermine service members and veterans, it all points toward a deliberate effort to erase the progress of desegregation. And how tomorrow’s executive order or tweet could bring another devastating blow—rolling back President Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981, which integrated the armed forces.

This would not just be an attack on diversity—it would undermine decades of progress and dishonor the sacrifices of those who fought for equality in the military. But let’s be clear: Truman, like Trump, also used the military to practice his version of racial politics.

Truman’s Racial Politics: A Pragmatic Shift

Truman was no racial progressive. He was a product of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, raised in Missouri’s Ku Klux Klan stronghold by parents who embraced white supremacy. His mother despised Abraham Lincoln so much that she refused to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. Truman himself used racial slurs, once referring to White House waiters as an “army of coons.”

Yet, despite his prejudices, he could no longer ignore the horrors of racial violence, especially against Black veterans. Men who had risked their lives for their country were being lynched, gunned down, blinded, and even mutilated with meat cleavers and blowtorches while still in uniform.

He underwent a racial awakening and, under pressure from the Civil Rights Committee he had commissioned, responded to its groundbreaking report, which called for sweeping reforms:

Abolition of poll taxes

Anti-lynching legislation

Ending segregation in the military and beyond

But Congress blocked anti-lynching laws and dismissed the poll tax issue as a constitutional matter. That left one area where Truman could act alone—integrating the armed forces.

Executive Order 9981: The Integration of the U.S. Military

On July 26, 1948, Truman overruled the Pentagon and issued Executive Order 9981, mandating the desegregation of the U.S. military:

"There shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin."

This order set up the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services, which oversaw the implementation of military desegregation. By 1950, the military had begun integrating in earnest, and by 1954, the last segregated units were dissolved.

While EO 9981 was never explicitly codified into federal law, it became de facto policy, reinforced by:

The Uniform Code of Military Justice (1950) – Strengthened desegregation efforts. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Banned discrimination in federally controlled institutions, including the military. Department of Defense policies – By the 1960s, military integration was fully institutionalized.

But de facto policies are fragile—they can disappear like the dodo bird or become entangled in a quagmire of court cases.

Trump’s Systematic Dismantling of Military Inclusivity

Trump hasn’t explicitly overturned Executive Order 9981—yet. Recent executive orders have targeted DEI programs within the military. One such order mandates the termination of all DEI initiatives within the Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard, banning race- and sex-based preferences in hiring, training, and military education. Additionally, the reinstatement of a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military has been implemented, effectively reversing previous policies that promoted inclusivity. His actions show a clear pattern of undermining the spirit of Executive Order 9981and pushing the armed forces toward a white patriarchal vision:

Banning Transgender Service Members (2017) – A blatant rollback of inclusivity in the military. – A blatant rollback of inclusivity in the military. Rescinding Diversity Orders (2025) – Eliminated DEI programs that protected federal employees and contractors from discrimination. – Eliminatedthat protectedfrom discrimination. Dismantling Civil Rights Protections – Revoked executive orders on policing reforms and voting rights that disproportionately affect communities of color. Redefining Sex and Gender in Federal Law – Weakened legal protections for trans, nonbinary, and intersex people, affecting their status in the military.

Each action represents a step backward, chipping away at the principles of equality and inclusion that Truman’s order helped establish.

Tomorrow’s Tweet Could Change Everything

Trump has always ruled by impulse and grievance politics. It wouldn’t take much—a tweet, an executive order, or a backroom deal—for him to undo the last remnants of military integration and civil rights protections.

The question isn’t if he will try—it’s when. And what will we do about it? What’s the plan?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/17/2310883/-Could-Trump-s-Next-Executive-Order-Roll-Back-Truman-s-Historic-Integration-of-the-Armed-Forces?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

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