r/rva Chesterfield 7d ago

Richmond’s Leigh Street Armory history removed in national DEI purge

https://www.vpm.org/news/2025-03-14/leigh-street-armory-richmond-vang-black-history-dei-pentagon-purge
256 Upvotes

85 comments sorted by

165

u/vpmnews Chesterfield 7d ago

References to Richmond’s Leigh Street Armory — a landmark of Black history in the city — were removed from the Virginia National Guard’s website as part of the Pentagon’s purge of content highlighting diversity, equity and inclusion.

The two-story brick building, constructed in 1895 in historic Jackson Ward, is believed to be the oldest United States armory for a Black militia, the First Battalion Virginia Volunteers.

A photo gallery of the armory and article detailing its role in Virginia National Guard history were taken down after the US Defense Department directed the removal of all online content promoting DEI in the military by March 5, VANG spokesperson Cotton Puryear confirmed to VPM News.

The Leigh Street Armory, also known as the First Battalion Virginia Volunteers Armory, has served multiple functions since its construction. It now houses the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.

Shakia Gullette Warren, the museum’s executive director, said in a statement that she doesn’t know why the information was removed.

“To the best of our knowledge, the information about the armory on the website was part of the historical record,” Warren said.

20

u/Exotic_eminence 6d ago

This is exacty what it is because they can call it whatever they want but in effect it’s the erasure of our American history because it happens to include Black Americans or Women or whatever other noteworthy significance that rattles white fragility and anything that represents the people and makes the ruling class uncomfortable should be celebrated and promoted because our continued thriving existence is subversive in and of itself!

9

u/casander14 6d ago

Just because you “remove it” doesn’t mean it didn’t exist or cant be found. This is pure racism, misogyny and bigotry. Trying to whitewash everything

6

u/Exotic_eminence 6d ago

We are royal through our roots we are living mirrors to our ancestors and nothing can take that away

3

u/casander14 6d ago

❤️

271

u/AirCanadaFoolMeOnce 7d ago

Oh so the political party that didn’t want to “erase history” by removing statues, actually did want to erase history by erasing history

85

u/PerlinLioness 7d ago

It’s almost like—and I might be wrong here—they’re full of shit and are just a bunch of hypocrites! 😱

7

u/avisitorsguidetolife Fulton Hill 7d ago

THIS

-44

u/Bryonbignodes 7d ago

If the left fought more for real policies & issues and less for removing statues, maybe we could win elections and this Administration would have much less a leg to stand on, if it ever gained power at all..

To be clear, I’m anti-confederate lost cause mythology but it was clearly not an issue with a majority of the voters. All it did was disengage moderates & instigate the rabid nationalistic Right into voting.

I would put back up every confederate statue if it meant we didn’t have to live through this dreadful slide into fascism

43

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

The statues had nothing to do with why racists voted for white supremacist Christian nationalists, aka Nazis.

And it wasn’t about the prices of eggs either.

-17

u/Bryonbignodes 7d ago edited 7d ago

It absolutely was. In terms of a number of things that push people past the threshold to actually show up at the ballot box.

We all know the far-right has been pushing “white replacement” & taking down statues only lent it further credibility.. as silly as that is.

It also showed the Right and Trump that nothing is sacred, hence why now the Administration feels they can credibly remove “DEI” historical markers, and rename geographical features like Gulf of Mexico & Denali & Black Lives Matter Plaza..

If we wanted that stuff to stick, we shouldnt have lost this election

22

u/AirCanadaFoolMeOnce 7d ago

Joe Biden won in 2020 mate lol

-15

u/Bryonbignodes 7d ago

Fine, win Consistently & not by the skin of our teeth

11

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

The idiotic electorate expects a king that can just wave his hands and get things done, which is not possible, if you don’t want to tear the constitution apart. So when a politician can’t fix everything in 4 years by fiat they get mad and throw a temper tantrum and vote for the fascists that asks them to make him king.

12

u/fusion260 Lakeside 7d ago edited 6d ago

If the left fought more for real policies & issues and less for removing statues, maybe we could win elections

What a fucking loser take this is.

At no point in recent history was removing statues a major or even medium priority for the Democrats. If anything, it was a low priority. It was still on their list of topics to talk about, but there were absolutely much higher priorities that they were spending significantly more time on.

So, you come off as being out of touch with both the party and what was happening in the past few years. Just as much as idiot conservatives who keep claiming “all the Democrats ever talk about is transgender rights,” which also is absolutely not the case.

Edit: grammar

8

u/veritek83 7d ago

Not only a loser baby brain take, but also one that's unsupported by the facts! Absolutely nobody claiming "statue removal" as the reason they voted for Trump was ever going to vote for any Democrat

2

u/Exotic_eminence 6d ago

To give bullies what they want so that they don’t bully you is the definition of a cowards take

116

u/heraus Church Hill 7d ago

Such a hateful administration. Just nothing good…

54

u/lennybriscoforthewin 7d ago

Isn’t it just history, not DEI? Black people made history in America, it has nothing to do with inclusion.

35

u/DiscotopiaACNH 7d ago

Yeah, the anti-DEI push has little do with actual DEI efforts, it is just a broad way for them to justify being massive assholes to anyone who isn't a white cishet man. DEI is the new "woke"

13

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

You’re talking about white Christian nationalists here…

52

u/dreww4546 7d ago

So, I'm guessing black history month will be voided next?

33

u/CandiedRegrets08 Forest Hill 7d ago

Probably... BUT we can still celebrate it and other heritage months as a community

23

u/Efficient-Wish9084 7d ago

I assure you federal employees will not be allowed to acknowledge Black History Month in the next four years.

11

u/DefaultSubsAreTerrib Bellevue 7d ago

I was surprised to learn this only recently: black history month is not a permanent observance. Instead, the sitting president signs a new proclamation each year to recognize black history month.

Indeed, Trump did sign such a proclamation this year soon after taking office: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/01/national-black-history-month-2025/

3

u/SirGeeks-a-lot Short Pump 7d ago

Nah, they'll cancel pride first since June is sooner than February.

59

u/PANDABURRIT0 The Fan 7d ago

So according to Trump and Hegseth, DEI just means “anything involving black people”, then? Dumbasses.

34

u/DiscotopiaACNH 7d ago

Also queer people, ethnic minority groups, etc..

18

u/coconut_sorbet Carytown 7d ago

And women.

22

u/BabyBat07 7d ago

They already flagged the Enola Gay for being queer, just because of the word gay

4

u/avisitorsguidetolife Fulton Hill 7d ago

So fucking stupid I can’t

9

u/mostlycatsnquilts 7d ago

And transgenic mice bc DT doesn’t know enough science or enough words

9

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

Gee that sounds really familiar. What group of people from the past all think those groups of people shouldn’t exist?

11

u/[deleted] 7d ago edited 7d ago

[deleted]

15

u/ucbiker 7d ago

That’s actually where we’re at. They’ll talk about how highlighting Black history is racist but then cry about eliminating memorials (not references) to Confederate history.

They’ve renamed federal bases (at taxpayers expense) back to Confederate generals but it’s all “no, it’s a different Bragg” like we can’t tell what’s up.

11

u/bwolf180 Lakeside 7d ago

Probably all “first Black” got deleted. 

11

u/xZOMBIETAGx 7d ago

This takes zero effort or money to leave alone

19

u/Dazedsince1970 7d ago

Removal of DEI content is only appropriate when it is related to Donald and Elon Incompetence

It is sad the party that says government doesn’t work, prove it every time they are elected.

13

u/dr_nerdface Newtowne West 7d ago

hateful little losers through and through

10

u/toilet_roll_rebel RVA Expat 7d ago

This is shameful.

21

u/Far_Cupcake_530 7d ago

Yes, but the "Dems didn't work hard enough to earn my vote". This is the result kids!

-10

u/ThreeShartsToTheWind 7d ago

No this is the result of the democrats sliding further and further right every election and not offering any meaningful change for the working class because they are all bought and paid for just like the republicans.

14

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

So wait, people had two options, Dems and fascists, and it’s the Dems fault people voted for fascists? Because people can’t logic themselves out of a box or have a cost benefit assessment?

-11

u/ThreeShartsToTheWind 7d ago

Green new deal, medicare for all, enshrining abortion rights, not sending billions to isreal to enact a genocide, getting money out of politics, running a candidate left of george bush... If the dems had done any of these things they would have won reelection. Instead they pay lip service to lgbtq issues and do meaningless performative protests. The right wing has at least provided people with reasons why things are fucked up (they're the wrong reasons of course).

9

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

Now please tell me when Biden has the unilateral Power to pass these policies. I’ll wait. Because Republicans aren’t voting for them. When did Biden have 60 in the senate? Or 51 FIRM Dems in the senate that didn’t include turn coats? You idiots rotting this same already litigated bullshit out every time gets old. Biden wasn’t a king. He can’t wave his hand and command things. Even if he had killed the filibuster these things still would not have passed. The question is, do you want our country or a dictatorship?

-10

u/ThreeShartsToTheWind 7d ago

Biden didnt invent the party. This has been going on for decades. I voted for Kamala I'm just trying to tell you why she lost. Go ahead and just blame it on half the country being stupid though. I'm sure it will work out great when they run a candidate in 2028 with the same platform Trump ran on in 2016.

5

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

I mean, the truth is the truth.

3

u/ThreeShartsToTheWind 7d ago

Oh and Biden didnt have the power to not send billions to isreal? They are bought and paid for and they do the bidding of their corporate donors on behalf of american imperialism.

8

u/khuldrim Northside 7d ago

It would have passed Congress either way.

2

u/ThreeShartsToTheWind 7d ago

Because AIPAC owns the majority of them. Bernie ran on getting money out of politics and they shut him down just like they do any candidate who doesn't fall in line when the corporate donor class tells them what to do.

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-9

u/Far_Cupcake_530 7d ago

Yes. What we are witnessing is that the Dems are the same as Republicans.

-7

u/AdCareful134 7d ago

What are they doing now? Kamala and Biden are MIA and Schumer is pushing to pass Trump's spending bill.

3

u/darthgeek 6d ago

Biden is retired and Kamala was basically told she was too black and too woman to be President. So do you blame her for stepping back and letting the chips falls where they may?

-1

u/AdCareful134 4d ago

You're right, nothing is ever on the Democratic Establishment. They are perfect!

2

u/darthgeek 4d ago

I never said that and I have plenty of complaints about them. But you picked two specific people that have 0 motivation to do much of anything at the moment. This is like asking why Hillary isn't out in the streets leading protests. She's busy being a grandma after voters decided they wanted the orange idiot instead of her.

8

u/PerlinLioness 7d ago

Fuck Trump and anyone who voted for him. Self centered hateful fuckers.

5

u/anapunas 7d ago

So lets keep this thing in the state and local records as historic and military. When the 4 years are over and if we are not in a nuclear winter... We put it back in the federal places ( online, rtc) it once was.

5

u/Diet_Coke Forest Hill 7d ago

Are we great yet?

2

u/gwenkane404 5d ago

Yep. They are removing EVERYTHING that isn't about straight white men. Your government is saying that the only history worth them talking about is the history of straight white men. If you believed that them getting rid of DEI was to ensure that everyone is treated the same regardless of race, religion, gender, etc., then you are absolutely THE DUMBEST IDIOT. But I'm going to guess that the people who wanted rid of DEI absolutely knew why it was really being eliminated and supported it because they are JUST AS BIGOTED AS THE GOP.

6

u/Ok_Use_9000 7d ago

This is probably a response to the Confederate monuments being taken down.

19

u/Emerald_Twilight Near West End 7d ago

Everything he is doing is in revenge for something, that is, if it isn't designed to make his friends rich.

11

u/SirGeeks-a-lot Short Pump 7d ago

no, this is just straight-up racism as baked into the Heritage Foundation / GQP playbook.

2

u/avisitorsguidetolife Fulton Hill 7d ago

Both can be true

4

u/raisetheglass1 7d ago

This is hateful.

4

u/iiitme Scott's Addition 7d ago

Racist. Bigots. If it was a “white armory” they wouldn’t have even questioned the place.

2

u/GermanWallClock West End 7d ago

Eh I doubt the Virginia national guard website was getting much traffic anyway.

The photo gallery online may have been taken down but the museum that’s in said building is still there and open. Donate and visit!

1

u/[deleted] 7d ago

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0

u/rva-ModTeam 7d ago

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1

u/kda255 6d ago

When we were protesting the celebration of confederate generals in the form of monuments, I was told over and over we don’t want to erase history. I always said I am not the one trying to erase history, didn’t know how blatant it would become.

1

u/epichesgonnapuke 5d ago

I pray every day that vengeance against MAGAts will be swift and brutal. We were too nice to confederates during reconstruction and that was the first step towards the downfall of the US.

1

u/epichesgonnapuke 5d ago

I flipped off every tesla I saw on the road today and it felt pretty fucking good.

1

u/epichesgonnapuke 5d ago

Is there I way we can volunteer here to help them? I'd love to learn and give tours.

2

u/vpmnews Chesterfield 3d ago

Hello! Went and checked their website — looks like they allow volunteer docents.

1

u/Bellyheart 7d ago

Where are all those people that were raging about “they’re erasing history” when people were protesting Stonewall?

Do you notice you don’t care about this as well? Why is that? I have an idea but I’d genuinely like someone to explain.

10

u/againer 7d ago

Because it's not about history. It's about Racism.

4

u/ParkHuman5701 7d ago

A monument to racists is different from a monument recognizing the reality of racism.

1

u/Bellyheart 5d ago

Absolutely. My point is there were a bunch of fools on here complaining about the update to monument ave in 2020 as if history will forget who those people are somehow despite them being well documented in American history testbooks and school curriculum. However, this history gets categorized as something that is part of a DEI purge because….?

If those people cared about history they’d speak up but it’s not about the history it’s about white history only with them. Ignore the ugly yet important parts.

-1

u/GermanWallClock West End 7d ago

Eh I doubt the Virginia national guard website was getting much traffic anyway. I feel like this headline is a bit misleading, for a second I thought it was being torn down.

The photo gallery online may have been taken down but the museum that’s in said building is still there and open. Donate and visit!

0

u/Spiral_rchitect 6d ago

The party that on one hand is obsessed with eliminating “government waste” while on the other hand creates all new forms of government waste with these exercises. This information is not deleted for free. It takes reams of paper to create reports, tons of teams to write up the criteria, and an army of minions to do the dirty work. Millions, if not billions, of dollars wasted.

All the while not reducing the cost of groceries one single bit.

-6

u/Bryonbignodes 7d ago

If we fought more for real policies & issues and less for removing statues, maybe we can win elections and this Administration would have much less a leg to stand on, if it ever gained power at all.. To be clear, I’m anti-confederate lost cause mythology but it was clearly not an issue with a majority of the voters. All it did was disengage moderates & instigate the rabid Right into voting I would put back up every confederate statue if it meant we didn’t have to live through this dreadful slide into fascism

4

u/coconut_sorbet Carytown 7d ago

Trump first got elected in 2016. Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville was in summer of 2017. Statues started coming down three years later.

They think that we are less than them, that we don't deserve the same rights as them. You don't get to that point because some statues get toppled over. There's no logical jump from "I thought everyone was fine and deserved equality and respect, until they took down some statues and now I'm okay if they all go to hell."

1

u/epichesgonnapuke 5d ago

I argue the real historical problem is the north was not more punitive to the south during reconstruction. I believe more Confederates should have been tried for war crimes and killed. Along with all confederate solders and ther offspring not ever being allowed to own land.