Under orders from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Navy is set to adopt a rule that would allow Black soldiers to be purged simply because of their facial hair.
Currently, the Navy issues permanent shaving waivers to members with certain skin conditions caused by shaving, especially a condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, commonly known as razor bumps. This is a condition that disproportionately affects the Black population, with studies estimating that between 45% and 83% of Black men suffer from it.
But Hegseth’s new rule would allow the dismissal of service members who continue to show signs of the affliction after a year of medical treatment.
The Navy is also forcing members currently exempt from grooming standards based on religious observance to reapply, meaning their approvals would be reviewed under the Trump administration’s bigoted approach to religious freedom.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in 2025.AP
Last year, the Army instituted similarly exclusionary policies as Hegseth ranted in a speech in South Korea that “no beardos” would be allowed in the armed forces on his watch, underlining the exceptional bigotry of the administration.
In a letter to Hegseth last October, a group of over 40 Democratic representatives slammed the change in policy.
“Punishing troops for this condition that is beyond their control is not necessary for the effectiveness of the military, but it certainly undermines equity and fairness by creating a policy that disparately impacts minority service members,” they wrote.
The hair policy is just the newest front in Hegseth’s push to resegregate the U.S. military.
Behind the scenes, he has blocked military promotions that were in progress for several Black and female leaders. And this is not an aberration from his past rhetoric. During his time as a Fox News contributor, Hegseth railed against purportedly “woke” policies in the military meant to increase diversity and protect civil rights.
Infamously, he said in 2024, “We should not have women in combat roles.”
Despite these stances—or perhaps because of them—Hegseth was confirmed by the Republican majority in the Senate.
Exacerbating discrimination in the military is just one more way that Trump has turbocharged his second term with bigotry. He has thrown out longstanding rules meant to protect civil rights while using the power of the government to impose discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation.
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