Over the past year, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump have consistently attacked diversity in the military and critiqued military leaders they see as overseeing a “woke” military. Trump has argued that the military “went, in a way, woke” and called for armed forces that would “not be politically correct.”
At a meeting of hundreds of top military personnel at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia in late September 2025, Hegseth claimed the Department of Defense became “the woke department,” infected by “toxic political garbage” and the “insane fallacy that ‘our diversity is our strength.’”
When Trump and Hegseth rail against “wokeness” in the ranks, they fundamentally misunderstand military diversity and undermine veterans.
Today’s generation of veterans is the most diverse in history. Veterans who have served post 9/11 are more diverse in terms of gender and race than previous generations. They are also more likely to have been deployed, seen combat and experienced emotional trauma. In fiscal year 2014, the highest rates of post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans were found among Native American or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
These statistics make clear the gap between the vision of the military the Trump administration desires and the reality of those who have and continue to serve.
Having spent years studying the U.S. military and writing a book on diversity and military recruiting, I know military diversity is a long-standing practice driven by the very nature and history of the all-volunteer force.
During times of war and between 1948 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted enlistees to fill the ranks. After years of debate, the draft was ended and the U.S. established an all-volunteer force in 1973.
The demographic makeup of the military quickly changed as more Black Americans and women chose to join the military. In a 2007 study of representation in the military, scholars found that Black Americans had been overrepresented in the military for much of the span of the all-volunteer force. And the percentage of Latino service members more than doubled from the late 1980s to the 2000s.
A 1976 ad in Ebony magazine presents the Navy as a way for Black men to get ahead. Ebony magazine.Additionally, Latino service members made up 25% of new enlistees in 2022.
While women remain underrepresented in the military compared with the U.S. population, the shift to the all-volunteer force led to a steady increase in women’s military participation. Women made up 3% of military personnel in 1973 and 17% in 2022.
The military would not have been able to meet personnel needs and recruitment goals without the disproportionate representation of women, Black Americans, and Latino service members during this post-draft period.
The U.S. military embraced this diversity long before the influence of “woke” politics and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that Hegseth and Trump claim have undermined the institution.
That embracement has helped the military enlist between 128,000 and 190,000 new service members annually since the 1990s, even though some armed forces, especially the Army, have struggled to meet their recruiting goals in the past few years.
Men who have signed up to join the U.S. Marines wait to do qualifying pull-ups in New York City on Nov. 16, 2025. Robert Nickelsberg/Getty ImagesTo fully understand how the military became one of the most diverse American institutions, you need to go back to the foundations of the all-volunteer force.
The primary challenge the military faced in the implementation of the all-volunteer force was how to persuade young Americans to enlist. Large budgets were set aside for advertising, and military branches worked with advertisers to reach potential recruits.
One of the first steps advertisers took in the mid-1970s was to identify “vulnerable target groups.” These groups were targeted based on propensity – the likelihood that an individual would serve regardless of their desire to do so.
The likelihood of service increased when people felt they had little opportunity outside of the military – whether that meant financial struggles or an inability to afford higher education.
Based on ideas of recruit quality and the traits the military sees as best suited to success in the ranks, the military has mostly desired to recruit straight and white young men. But these people were more likely to have opportunities outside of the military. So, military leaders had to expand the scope of potential recruits to reach out to groups previously excluded – namely, Black Americans, other people of color and women.
When Hegseth talks about “fixing decades of decay” in a department gone “woke,” and when Trump argues that the military will now be “all based on merit,” they both fail to understand military diversity.
The military didn’t become diverse because it went “woke” or abandoned a merit-based system of promotions.
Military diversity resulted from the exploitative nature of military recruiting. In the all-volunteer force, the most easily persuaded recruits are those in most need of opportunities they can’t find in the civilian world. The very logic behind an all-volunteer force means that the military can’t fill their ranks with white men alone.
A U.S. Army recruiter walks between outdoor posters at a mobile interactive recruiting exhibit on May 21, 2005, in Charlotte, N.C. The U.S. military has had to reach out to the public to communicate a more effective message and compete with other professions to attract potential soldiers. Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images.Hegseth and Trump, additionally, have framed their criticism of the military with an obsessive focus on looks.
Hegseth criticized the “bad look” of the current military, saying “it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formations, and see fat troops.” He also railed against “an era of unprofessional appearance” indicated by “beards, long hair and superficial individual expression.”
Trump has consistently talked about wanting military leaders to look like they are out of “central casting”, a phrase he uses almost exclusively to talk about white men.
The firings of Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General CQ Brown Jr., the second Black Chair of the Joint Chiefs, appear to reflect this vision of the military in practice.
When Trump and Hegseth attack military diversity, they harm individuals who made the choice to serve. They also perpetuate the myth that military diversity was enforced from outside the military by liberal “woke” politics rather than born of necessity for the military’s very survival.
Jeremiah Favara is an assistant professor of communication studies at Gonzaga University.
The Military’s Diversity Rises out of Recruitment Targets, Not Any ‘Woke’ Goals was originally published by The Conversation and is republished with permission.
In Chicago, across the Midwest, and throughout the country, one of the primary ways to support impacted communities continues to be both physical and online advocacy and presence. This involves participating in demonstrations and protests, sharing verified information online from reputable organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union or, in Illinois, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, or volunteering with organizations like MigraWatch or Know Your Rights. However, in-person activism comes with real risk.
Protest signs and resource information posters were hung up around a resource tent in Broadview, Illinois. Credit: Britton Struthers-Lugo, Oct. 30, 2025.
"While the Know Your Rights training are focusing on what the immigrants need to know, it's important that also citizens figure that out: what are within the boundaries of the constitutional law that they can do without putting themselves at danger," said Espinoza.
Illinois State Sen. Guzmán, 20th District, Sen. Guzmán agrees with the importance of building a deep understanding of our constitutional rights. If citizens know the law, then it’s easier to identify right from wrong.
“It's very, very important for all of us to collectively recognize that the atrocities that we are seeing, whether it is the forced kidnapping and detainment of our community members, to the violence that is being enacted on people's bodies, to the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, like, none of these things are normal nor okay,” said Guzman. “If nothing else, we have all the collective role in pushing back against the efforts to send us into further forms of fascism.”
At the forefront of such collective action is the Broadview U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility, which has been making headlines for several months. Located just past Chicago’s western neighborhoods, the Broadview ICE Facility has seen a surge of violence following protestors’ confrontations with federal enforcement agents.
Activist, protestor, and volunteer Mike Granzow has been outside the Broadview facility for over a month and has shared his experience there following the announcement of Operation Midnight Blitz in early September.
“Immediately, there were protesters outside of that building,” Mike said. “As this protest grew, ICE introduced chemical weapons to all of our lives. It means rubber bullets. Foam bullets.”
Fellow volunteer and protestor, Bryan Brannon, who travels to Broadview from Evanston, also shared his experience:
“I got lit up pretty bad with pepper balls on my back. In the morning, I got pepper-sprayed in the face.”
Rubber bullet wounds on Bryan’s back, after a day of protesting at the Broadview ICE facility in mid-September. He wears hospital scrubs, acquired after receiving medical attention following the pepper-spray incident earlier in the day. He returned to protest after being discharged from the hospital.Credit: Adriano Kalin (@adriano_kalin).
“Before they pepper-sprayed me in the face, it was their words, not mine: they said, ‘Fuck you and your mother.’ And then they pepper-sprayed me in the face.” Brannon said. “I was no threat to them. I don't see why they had to pepper-spray me and why they had to say, ‘Fuck you and your mother.’ It seemed all very over the top, and it does not seem like the way that a law officer should be acting.”
In response to the violence, both Granzow and Brannon worked to gather materials at the supply tent to provide protective gear to protestors, as well as increased medical supplies and aid. There were also overnight volunteers in the tent who offered around-the-clock support to detainee family members. Unfortunately, the medical supply tent was taken down in late October after the City of Broadview issued an evacuation order due to a camping violation. However, the testimonies of protesters and volunteers outside the detention center highlight the power of physical presence and the consequences some have faced for exercising their First Amendment rights.
“What we have seen, even with individuals that are acting within the boundaries on the law, they are being retaliated [against], and they need to know what are the things that, in fact, are allowed, such as recording, document and share, and what are the things that are not allowed, such as obstructing an officer or impeding them carry on with what they sometimes call it a targeted operations,” said Espinoza.
Recording, documenting, and sharing information - especially about ICE activity in public spaces - remains one of the most effective and accessible forms of activism. Guzmán refers to this as “rapid response”:
“When we're talking about rapid response, we're talking about the practice of organized neighbors using organized time and organized tactics to disrupt what is happening in ICE through documentation.”
In Illinois, bystanders are legally permitted to record officers in public areas such as streets, sidewalks, and parks. Video evidence can be instrumental in determining whether officers are following lawful procedure, shedding light on misconduct, and creating a public record of an agent's behavior. According to Guzmán, organizations such as the National Immigration Justice Center have already used community-provided evidence to inform consent decrees and other court-based actions. Espinoza offers guidance on filming safely.
ICE officers gathered outside the Broadview detention center. Yellow identifying badges can be seen on the front of their uniforms and on their shoulders. Credit: Britton Struthers-Lugo, Oct. 30, 2025.
He also recommends capturing the officer’s identifying markers - usually located on an agent’s shoulders - which will show their rank. The SALUTE acronym is another easy way to remember how to document and report ICE activity.
Screengrab from the Chicago Council of Lawyers. Designed by Megan Piontkowski, Oct. 2025.
It is important to remember to maintain a safe physical distance in all interactions with law enforcement agents. Getting in an officer’s way is likely to be considered obstruction and may result in physical force or arrest. However, what should you do if an officer approaches you?
“So the recommendation at that point is clearly, say it on the video: ‘You're coming into my space. I am not impeding nor obstructing your job. You are the one coming up to me.’ Because what they're going to try to twist it so that you are the one blocking them. But the videos have shown that they are the ones that are sometimes instigating and trying to get people upset to react, and then having an excuse of doing or using excessive force,” says Espinoza. “If their rights are violated, they can present a lawsuit against them, the agency, and the individuals. And that will be the only way that these things will be deterred, if not stopped completely.”
Interactions with ICE agents can be reported to the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights via their hotline at 855-435-7693 or to various media outlets, such as the Chicago Journalists Collaborative.
Of course, direct action isn’t the only option. Many people cannot afford to undertake the risks inherent in physical activism and prefer to support from a distance, such as by providing financial assistance. Monetary aid is helpful at any increment, and might look like purchasing groceries for a struggling family, contributing to a GoFundMe, donating toward legal representation, or covering rent for someone whose primary earner was detained.
A white bus waits outside the Broadview Detention Center to transport detainees to a permanent detention center or to an airport. The Broadview Detention Center cannot hold detainees for longer than 12 hours, though to reflect increased enforcement operations this has been increased to 72 hours. Longer stays have been recorded since Operation Midway Blitz. Credit: By Britton Struthers-Lugo, Oct. 30, 2025.
Michael Rodriguez, Chicago’s 26th Ward Alderman, has seen firsthand the financial devastation ICE raids have caused in his community.
“Individuals who've been detained, their families tend to be in dire straits. Often, people are taken during their work hours. Either they're food vendors, they're working in construction, and those family members of those individuals are largely reliant on the income that their family members were making,” said Rodriguez.
According to Alderman Rodriguez, businesses in the Little Village neighborhood have taken a significant economic hit, with sales dropping 50%- 60% since ICE arrived in the area. The Little Village Chamber of Commerce reported that some businesses in the neighborhood have experienced a sales loss of up to 70%. Supporting local vendors, businesses, and food pantries in heavily impacted neighborhoods, such as Little Village, can help families weather the economic devastation that increased immigration activity has brought.
Finally, one of the most meaningful ways to help is also one of the simplest: staying present and staying vocal within your own community.
A paper outlining resources and ways to report federal law enforcement activity around Chicago hangs on a gate in the protestor “free speech zone”.Credit: Britton Struthers-Lugo. Oct. 30, 2025.
A paper outlining resources and ways to report federal law enforcement activity around Chicago hangs on a gate in the protesters' “free speech zone”. By Britton Struthers-Lugo. Oct. 30, 2025.
“All of us have neighbors who are at risk, who are undocumented. I don't care what city in Illinois, what region you are in, the Midwest, what neighborhood you live in, or what block you live on. In Chicago, you've got a neighbor or two who are either undocumented or maybe even legal permanent residents who don't feel safe to go to school, to go to work, or to take their or to go to worship,” says Rodriguez. “It's challenging right now. So just check in on your neighbors and offer them a word of advice.”
Despite reports that ICE activity in Chicago is dying down, collective action continues.
“We're going to continue organizing as if ICE and border patrol will ramp up their efforts.” said Guzmán, “So I encourage folks that have felt like, ooh, like I should have gotten involved and I didn't and it's too late. No, it's not too late. This is a perfect time actually to get connected with community organizations with rapid response and get trained and find, you know, what you want your place to be. Because we need to continue growing the base of neighbors that is doing this work to protect all of us.”
In moments like this, community becomes our strongest resource. Standing with our neighbors, sharing information, providing financial or resource assistance, and refusing to look away can make a real difference. Chicago has faced difficult moments before, but it is collective care - not fear - that has carried the city through.
Britton Struthers-Lugo is a freelance journalist and a photographer based in Chicago, Illinois.
