A rumor spread in June 2026 that a portrait of Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. of the U.S. Air Force, the U.S.' first Black four-star general, had been removed from display at the Pentagon, the building that houses the U.S. Department of Defense.
The claim appeared on X, where an account posted an alleged portrait of James with the words, "They took down Chappie James's portrait. 101 combat missions in Korea. 78 more in Vietnam. First Black four-star general in U.S. military history" (archived):
The same image or just the portrait also appeared in Facebook posts making the same claim. Snopes readers searched the website and emailed, seeking to confirm the veracity of the story.
The rumor stemmed from a June 9, 2026, report in The Atlantic that, after recounting James' achievements, said the portrait had been removed "from its prominent location in the Air Force Art Gallery" at the Pentagon. The space where it hung remained empty, according to the article, which added the removal followed the decision of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to end policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
In short, Snopes could not directly confirm that such a portrait had been removed from view. For this reason, we have left the claim unrated.
The Atlantic cited "two dozen currently enlisted, civilian, and retired Black members of the military across the armed forces" to back its story. One of them was retired Col. Gerald Curry, who spoke on the record about the removal of James' portrait. We have attempted to reach him to confirm the story. (Curry led the Air Force Review Boards Agency, whose "mission is to ensure due process, equity, fairness and impartial treatment.")
Another source for the story is the DOD's acting press secretary Joel Valdez, who told The Atlantic the portrait had been relocated, though the article provided no details about its new location. We reached out to him asking where the portrait was and whether the new location was as prominent as the previous one.
Lastly, we contacted Clint Smith, the story's writer, asking him for more details on the reporting process.
We will update this story should we receive confirmation of any aspect of the story.
For further reading, Snopes covered several rumors related to the "purge" of DEI terms on government websites, including the claim that Arlington National Cemetery removed links to webpages about Black, Hispanic and female veterans.
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