DEI book purge in Naval Academy: Holocaust, civil rights, feminism books banned

April 14, 2025

Books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” were among the nearly 400 volumes removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library this week after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office ordered the school to get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Navy late Friday provided the list of 381 books that have been taken out of its library. The move marks another step in the Trump administration’s far-reaching effort to purge so-called DEI content from federal agencies, including policies, programs, online and social media postings and curriculum at schools.

In addition to Angelou’s award-winning tome, the list includes “Memorializing the Holocaust,” which deals with Holocaust memorials; “Half American,” about African Americans in World War II; “A Respectable Woman,” about the public roles of African American women in 19th century New York; and “Pursuing Trayvon Martin,” about the 2012 shooting of the Black 17-year-old in Florida that raised questions about racial profiling.

Other books clearly deal with subjects that have been stridently targeted by the Trump administration, including gender identity, sexuality and transgender issues. A wide array of books on race and gender were targeted, dealing with such topics as African American women poets, entertainers who wore blackface and the treatment of women in Islamic countries.

Also on the list were historical books on racism, the Ku Klux Klan and the treatment of women, gender and race in art and literature.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/maya-angelou-memoir-holocaust-book-are-pulled-naval-academy-library-de-rcna200012