With so many people freaking out over changes to government websites to comply with President Donald Trump's anti-DEI order, there's also a lot of misinformation going around. For example, Carlos Turnbull here claims that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth scrubbed Colin Powell's name from a list of notable Americans buried at Arlington Cemetery. Not only that — he scrubbed all people of color and all women, leaving only white men.
Pete Hegseth removed Colin Powell’s name from a list of notable Americans, buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Hegseth also removed the names of every person of color and every woman on the same list. Only white men were left in place. pic.twitter.com/FZlv8gdUS9
— Carlos Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) March 20, 2025
He even has proof via stripes.com and stories in the New York Times and at the BBC.
— Carlos Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) March 20, 2025
— Carlos Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) March 20, 2025
— Carlos Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) March 20, 2025
But was Powell's name actually removed from the list? Let's see what stripes.com has to say:
The changes to the website were first brought to light this week in “Civil War Memory,” a newsletter published on the Substack social media site by historian Kevin Levin.
Among some of the changes were “modules” dealing with the Civil War, African-American history and women’s history.
Before January, the website included lists of prominent Black people and famous women buried at Arlington.
While the individual graves still turn up on website searches, lists grouping the dead by race or gender do not.
The webpage citing “Notable Graves” had subsections, including one for African Americans. The link to the list has been taken down.
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So Powell hasn't been scrubbed from any list, nor have any other people of color or women. So that's a lie.
Powell is still there as all other veterans.
— Gary Campbell (@souperfan2012) March 20, 2025
Gone is race or gender.
DEI is dead.
Did you not even read the article?
— Joe (@joe2boogaloo) March 20, 2025
He removed the race and gender.
Because, race and gender doesn’t matter.
This is a lie
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) March 20, 2025
Go to the “Notable Graves” section for “Politics & Government” and search for “Powell” and you will find him there: https://t.co/jsyyJXkwE9
— Kristina Wong 🇺🇸 (@kristina_wong) March 20, 2025
This is a lie. Everyone is still on the website but there are no longer separate categories by race. The colors that matter are red white and blue.
— Proud American (@JimSTruthBTold) March 20, 2025
Hegseth even weighed in himself, albeit briefly:
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) March 20, 2025
I can’t wait for this EPIC Community Note
— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) March 20, 2025
They’re so desperate - it’s sad. They will lie about anything.
— Mrs. Jensen (@MrsJensen_13) March 20, 2025
These people enjoy causing trouble.
— @EntropyX (@noquantity406) March 20, 2025
Quite disgusting the lies some will tell to cause hate and division. I knew it was a lie the second I saw it.
— Ralph Kay 🇺🇲 (@RalphKay) March 20, 2025
Proposed Community Notes are already in place, with one reading:
No service members were permanently removed from the Notable Graves section from the Arlington Cemetery website.
General Colin L. Powell is among those listed.
Clearly fake pic.twitter.com/NL0T8y2OG6
— Still Boneless (@still_boneless) March 20, 2025
The guy cites three articles, including the New York Times and the BBC, and still gets it completely wrong.
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