Daughter of 1st Black Marine says it's 'unbelievable' to see 'my dad caught up in DEI' [View all]

Source: ABC News

March 21, 2025, 4:38 PM


Alfreda Masters, the daughter of the first enlisted Black man to serve in the Marine Corps, told ABC News she finds it "unbelievable" that the webpage honoring her father's service has been taken down as a part of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, scrubbing at the Pentagon.

Alfred Masters, after whom she is named, was sworn in to the Marine Corps in 1942 after he was "rejected from the Marines ... because they didn't think Blacks were good enough," Alfreda Masters said. After a chance encounter with a Marine recruiter in Oklahoma City who asked Masters if he'd like to become the first Black Marine, to which he said yes, Masters enlisted. He served in a segregated unit in World War II in Guam and the South Pacific, where he rose to the rank of technical sergeant.

"I'm sad and angry at the same time," Masters said of the removed Marine Corps webpage that honored Black History Month and her father.

The Marine Corps article, which now leads to a 404 error code, noted President Ronald Reagan's designation of February as Black History Month and honored the Marines of Montford Point, who "broke ground for the right to serve amongst all who come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/daughter-1st-black-marine-unbelievable-dad-caught-dei/story?id=120037294