In 1976, President Gerald Ford recognized February as Black History Month. In 1986, Congress officially passed a law designating the month as National Black History Month. In 2025, the Pentagon and a number of federal agencies said they would scale back the celebrations of special observances, including Black History Month. This came due to President Donald Trump’s executive orders to cancel diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
However, the new president did sign a proclamation at the end of January recognizing February as Black History Month.
Coronado was not affected by the rollbacks as they did not have specific DEI programs related to recruitment to begin with, said Kelli Maples, the city’s senior management analyst. Fire Chief Jayson Summers confirmed that there have been no changes to the Coronado Fire Department. The Police Department did not respond by deadline about any changes.
But at least some Coronado residents view the national trend with worry.
Prince Asante Sefa-Boakye, who’s spent his entire life in Coronado, said that the Trump administration’s decisions show who they really are.
Sefa-Boakye’s grandfather on his father’s side was a powerful chief of the Asante people in Ghana. So technically, Sefa-Boakye is a prince. He was born and raised in Coronado but in the last few years has spent a lot of time in Ghana.
DEI is proposed to help the diverse population of the country. If you are not supporting that, you are revealing yourself that their outcry — their calls for action — do not make it to your agenda.
Prince Asante Sefa-Boakye
“DEI is proposed to help the diverse population of the country. If you are not supporting that, you are revealing yourself that their outcry – their calls for action – do not make it to your agenda,” Sefa-Boakye said.
Dr. Fern Nelson, a retired dermatologist and a full-time Coronado resident for the past 25 years, said the new administration’s initiative to scale back Black History Month celebrations will reverse decades of forward movement.
“This is just wiping out years and years and years of work and progress towards people being recognized for who they are,” Nelson said somberly. “America wouldn’t exist as it is now without Black people, without slavery.”
DEI rollbacks across the country
Diversity measures have been around since the Civil Rights movement, but started taking corporate America by storm in 2020 in the aftermath of protests triggered by the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, a Black man. Many companies started implementing policies and programs to address structural and systemic racism within their organizations.
Some people believe the goal of diversity programs is to hire based on race or gender or other social identities even if they are not qualified.
However, according to Impact.site, an online politics resource advocating for diversity principles, DEI initiatives are not for hiring unqualified candidates, but to “level the playing field by giving people of color and other marginalized groups a fair chance to be considered for job opportunities.”
They also outline it as acknowledging the role white people have played in harming non-white groups and finding solutions to dismantle the longstanding systemic inequities.
In the weeks since Trump’s election, some corporations – such as Amazon and Target – have already shut down diversity programs. Walmart said it would not be renewing its diversity initiative in November and the FBI closed its DEI office in December.
West Point, the United States Military Academy, will disband all its cultural clubs, such as the Asian-Pacific Forum Club and Society of Women Engineers Club, in response to the president’s executive orders, according to NBC. The clubs may also not conduct informal activities.
Costco, which has refused to halt inclusion efforts, recently received a letter from attorneys general from 19 states warning the corporation to “end all unlawful discrimination imposed by the company through diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) policies.”
The letter accused Costco of “doing the wrong thing – clinging to DEI policies that courts and businesses have rejected as illegal,” and stated that they have been diligently working to stop unlawful practices, with some Attorney Generals suing companies over their DEI policies.
And with Trump’s executive orders to rollback DEI programs, other special observances like Holocaust Remembrance Day and Pride Month will also be paused.
Black history is American history
But, Black history is American history, Nelson said.
A sentiment echoed also by Sefa-Boakye and Claudia Ludlow.
‘Let’s not forget where we’re from and who we are.’ … none of us would be here without my grandfather being a slave.
Ludlow, 52, has had family on the island since 1919. A Coronado High graduate who is now general manager of Glorietta Bay Inn, Ludlow described her Black heritage as an honor. “It’s a legacy. It’s a responsibility. It’s a gift. It’s a reminder of, ‘Let’s not forget where we’re from and who we are.’ … None of us would be here without my grandfather being a slave.”
Sefa-Boakye believes Black history is a story of strength. “I think it details the resilience that exists within American history.”
One can read the history of how Black people got into America and then read the product of what Black people have done in this country and still continue to do, and be surprised at how those can go hand in hand, he said.
“People that have been pulled down, beaten by police – they’ll find a way to write poetry and make music … the most beautiful contradiction on how Black history, being a part of American history, is such a work of art that demonstrates resilience.”
Sefa-Boakye, 33, was born and raised in Coronado with his parents and two brothers. He used to joke around that there were only five Black people on the island – and they were all his family.
He said he was bullied and teased, experiencing racism all through the Coronado school system and even beyond.
The moment the truth hit him was when he got his driver’s license and he said he was pulled over eight times in one month. And when he was 18, he was interrogated and wrongly accused by police of being someone else who was involved in an altercation. “You mean the other Black kid in Coronado?” Sefa-Boakye had responded.
The reality is that these moments happen, he said. And he just has to keep on moving and reflect on words from his parents about the family’s roots in Ghana.
“On the worst days in Coronado, it’s like, ‘Hey, remember there’s another place for you,’” his parents would say. “I would tell myself I have family in Africa … whenever the teasing or whatever was too much, I can just plan to go to Africa and make something happen.”
Nelson said that she, fortunately, never experienced racism on the island. And neither did Ludlow.
“Overall, I’ve been treated beautifully in Coronado,” Nelson said. “But I’m sure it’s very, very different for Black males.”
Nelson moved to Coronado from Chicago in 2000, a city that at the time had Black people as the largest racial group at 37% of the population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Coronado, in 2000, had a 5% population of Black people.
But moving to the island wasn’t much different for her because, as a Black physician, she said she was used to being the only Black person in a room.
“It’s the same number of Black people (in Coronado) now, 25 years later, as there were then. That really hasn’t changed,” Nelson said. She’s not far off. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of Black people in Coronado actually dropped to 2.5% as of 2024.
What has changed, Nelson said, is the country’s leadership – and a shift away from what she views as forward movement.
We need to celebrate Black history. For one, Black people built America. Black history should not be celebrated by just Black people. It should be celebrated by all Americans.
Dr. Fern Nelson
“We need to celebrate Black history. For one, Black people built America,” Nelson said. “Black history should not be celebrated by just Black people. It should be celebrated by all Americans.”
Nelson, Sefa-Boakye and Ludlow said they don’t believe that scaling back Black History Month celebrations will stop people from observing the month.
“I heard about it, but it’s not going to stop anything,” Sefa-Boakye said, laughing. “People are still going to find a way to band together and preserve those initiatives … I encourage a lot of people to not be too dismayed by the news.”
Ludlow, who said she really doesn’t like to be involved with politics, still will celebrate Black people past and present.
“You have to honor those people. There’s just no way around it,” Ludlow said. “At the end of the day, we are still who we are. I am still Black. I am still Mexican. I am still Spanish.”
And she admits she doesn’t fully understand the rolling back of DEI initiatives.
“You want to hire people that are qualified,” Ludlow said. “So, what message is (Trump) trying to send, at the end of the day? And I’m hopeful that it’s not a hateful message right now … Is there truly a strategy behind it?”
Trump’s executive orders
The White House released an order from Trump on Jan. 21 titled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” that outlined the president’s reasons for ending DEI programs within executive departments and agencies.
It said longstanding federal civil-rights laws have protected individual Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, but that “critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government … have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI).”
These illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society
Trump administration
Trump wrote that as president, it is his duty to ensure that these laws are enforced for all Americans, claiming that diversity policies are illegal and threaten public safety “by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society.”
He then listed several executive actions that have now been revoked by him, such as an executive order that established a government-wide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the Federal workforce.
He also wrote that the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs within the Department of Labor should immediately stop promoting diversity and start holding federal contractors responsible for taking affirmative action.
Executive orders are only enforceable within the executive branch, so diversity programs are not banned for businesses.
The Trump administration did not respond to inquiries from the Coronado News on this topic.
Impact.site, an online politics resource advocating for diversity principles, outlines DEI as a concept that strives to meet the needs of people from various backgrounds, breaking it down as such:
- Diversity is to embrace the differences people bring, such as race, age, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability and other social identities.
- Equity is for fair treatment and access to equal opportunities.
- Inclusion is creating a welcoming environment where everyone’s perspectives are valued and are encouraged to lend their voices.
The Black American story … is not a pretty one. It’s one that is similar to the phoenix, similar to a rose growing out of the concrete. It’s oppressed and underserved, finding a way to survive.
Prince Asante Sefa-Boakye
“You get frustrated because you’re so different. But then you realize the difference is your strength,” Sefa-Boakye added. “The Black American story … is not a pretty one. It’s one that is similar to the phoenix, similar to a rose growing out of the concrete. It’s oppressed and underserved, finding a way to survive.”
