We must stand against the erasure of American history
Newly commissioned pilots, called Tuskegee Airmen, at Tuskegee Army Flying School, in bomber jackets with a fighter airplane, in Tuskegee, Alabama, 1942. Credit: Getty Images/Afro American Newspapers/Gado
This guest essay reflects the views of Copiague resident Jackie Gordon, a former candidate for Congress and a combat veteran who retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel.
In an aging but historic hangar at Republic Airport — where men, women, and people of color once worked together to build fighter planes during World War II — a full-scale model of a P-51 Mustang stands on display as a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, the famed all-Black combat aviation unit from World War II, who not only fought Nazis in the air but also battled racism on the ground.
At the Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, a Wall of Honor celebrates the men and women who advanced America’s air and space frontiers. Nearby, exhibits showcase aerospace achievements designed and built by a diverse Long Island workforce.
As a Tuskegee Airman bomber pilot, Lee Hayes, right, seen in this photo around 1945, was at the time one of the most skilled men in America. But when he returned to his Long Island hometown after the war, the airlines wouldn't hire him. Brookhaven Lab only offered him a janitor's job. Credit: Copy by Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Who would have thought that in 2025, it would require an act of courage to preserve these tributes — tributes to those who helped shape a proud, diverse democracy?
In recent weeks, the Air Force attempted to eliminate training programs that highlight the African Americans who flew fighters in World War II and the women who broke barriers by ferrying high-performance warplanes from factories to military airfields. The outcry was immediate and nationwide, forcing the Air Force to reverse course. But the intent of the White House remains clear.
The day before the official start of Black History Month, newly appointed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the cancellation of all "identity months." His office issued a statement declaring, "Identity Months are dead at the Department of Defense." It made clear that no official resources — including time and funding — would be used to recognize cultural awareness months.
Over at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the directors of the Center for Women Veterans and the Center for Minority Veterans have been dismissed.
Now, NASA faces its own test. The agency’s long-standing commitment to ensuring diversity in astronaut selection is under threat. Acting Administrator Janet Petro has informed staff that NASA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives now run counter to a new executive order issued by President Donald Trump, which explicitly states that hiring decisions must "not under any circumstances consider DEI-related factors."
This is a sharp reversal from Trump’s first term, when NASA announced that the next U.S. lunar mission would include a woman. That vision, it seems, has been eclipsed by today’s policies.
Long Island’s museums tell the story of a region and a nation that have evolved — from a Yaphank campsite that once welcomed Nazi Bund members in the 1930s to Jasmine Moghbeli, the Baldwin-raised daughter of Iranian immigrants who, in 2023, proudly donned a spacesuit to reach the International Space Station. These institutions must now summon the resolve to resist forces that seek to erase or deny the power of diversity.
But museums cannot stand alone in this fight. Our schools have a duty to sustain and expand history education, even as fewer hours are devoted to it. Only by doing so will the next generation understand what Americans of all colors, races, creeds, and genders have contributed to a nation built by immigrants.
We cannot afford silence. Erasure is not an option. Our history is American history, and we will not allow it to be rewritten.
This guest essay reflects the views of Copiague resident Jackie Gordon, a former candidate for Congress and a combat veteran who retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel.
