A parade celebrating Frederick Douglass is canceled after Maryland National Guard drops out following Trump administration anti-DEI orders
The Department of Defense announced on January 31 that celebrating “identity months” is dead for the agency.
The latest victim of the Trump administration’s anti-DEI orders appears to be Frederick Douglass.
Organizers have canceled a parade planned to honor the 207th birthday of the Maryland native and famed abolitionist after the Maryland National Guard announced they could not participate, citing the Department of Defense’s order to cease celebrating “identity months.”
While the event was slated for February, Black History Month, it was also planned around the date of his birth and death. Douglass, who was born in February 1818 in Talbot County, famously declared February 14 his birthday. He later died on February 20, 1895.
“Since this event is organized as part of a Black History Month celebration, the Maryland National Guard cannot support,” Maryland National Guard Lt. Col. Meaghan Lazak wrote in a letter addressing the event. “In accordance with the new guidance, the Maryland National Guard must decline events which celebrate individuals based all or in part on immutable characteristics.”
In addition to the band being unable to play, the Maryland National Guard would also not provide a flyover, troop presence, or military vehicles.
Lazak further explained, per the new order titled Identity Months Dead, they also cannot support events tied to Women’s History Month, Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or National American Indian Heritage Month.
The letter, posted to Facebook by Tarence Bailey Sr., a distant relative of Douglass and an event organizer, ultimately led organizers to cancel the parade, the Washington Post reported. However, they were the second group to decline. Bailey told the Washington Post the Massachusetts National Guard, which participated during last year’s parade, also declined to participate.
“Basically, what the DOD said is, ‘We’re not doing that, he’s Black and this is February so, no,’” Bailey told the Washington Post. “You’re discrediting everything—all of the work he did for this nation not as a Black man but as an American…They should really be ashamed of themselves.”
Though the parade portion has been canceled, the rest of the event, including performances, dinner, and awards, is still slated to go on.
“I’m not saying Trump said ‘no’ to the Frederick Douglass parade,” Bailey added. “But his actions and the reverberations of his pen caused it.”
Douglass, who was born into slavery, eventually escaped to freedom and rose through the mid to late 1800s as a prominent voice advocating against slavery. He defied the odds despite the laws opposing education for Blacks during his day. He became known as an extremely gifted writer and orator, using his voice to speak out against the horrors of slavery and defend the humanity of the marginalized. His legacy includes recruiting Black soldiers for the Civil War, becoming an advisor to Abraham Lincoln, and ultimately being the Father of Civil Rights.
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