The Enola Gay is Not Gay: Metadata Matters
March 12, 2025
I cannot be any clearer in my words when I write that the Enola Gay is not “gay.” This misuse of metadata to search and purge is not only irresponsible, but egregious and frightening to happen in 2025. And in case you do not know, the Enola Gay was named for pilot Colonel Paul Tibbetts Jr.’s mother, Enola Gay Tibbets. Also, not “gay.”
In a both absurd and astonishing story of access gone wrong, I was gob smacked to read this past week of how historical records were identified and flagged by the United States government for their metadata for something which is untrue, unjust, and unbelievable. The Associated Press broke the story that the US Department of Defense flagged tens of thousands of photos for deletion as part of a purge targeting DEI-related materials following the President’s executive order eliminating DEI programs across the federal government.
Here are the facts:
- Among the items flagged for deletion is the World War II Enola Gay aircraft, which bears the name of Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of military pilot Paul Tibbets.
- The AP, citing a military database confirmed by U.S. officials, also reported other photos and posts containing the word “gay” were flagged for deletion, including references to people who have the last name “Gay.”
- The marks for deletion target women and people of color the most, the AP reported, including references to the country’s first Black military pilots and mentions of commemorative months, including Women’s History Month.
Ask yourself, what’s in a word? Well, everything. Language is always in a state of change, with new words and meanings being created – this happens quickly and globally, often in ephemeral ways that can take time to permeate into daily awareness. It is important to keep current, and up to date on potential business impacts. And if we accept the fact that your metadata needs to adapt to stay relevant, then ask yourself if your metadata is out of date? Has the meaning changed? Is it damaging? Is it something new? If it is, then yes, this is an opportunity for good changes to be made and socialized. But in this situation, the word “gay” as a search and purge term was just so wrongly misused with an archival record of the actual, “Enola Gay” airplane.
In another similarly astonishing example of access, the New York Times revealed last week that the US government has flagged 197 words to “limit or avoid.” These words range from such examples as activism, anti-racism, diversity, LGBTQ, trans, victim, and more. Some ordered the removal of these words from public-facing websites or ordered the elimination of other materials (including school curricula) in which they might be included. In other cases, federal agency managers advised caution in the terms’ usage without instituting an outright ban. Additionally, the presence of some terms was used to automatically flag for review some grant proposals and contracts that could conflict with President Trump’s executive orders.
But what is happening here in these two incidents shows not only the power in our words, but how the powerful may misuse those words. Let us all consider this with humanity and respect. Without facts that are authentic, authoritative, and replete with respect, trust will be hard to build. Information is coming at us from so many sources. This complexity is being compounded by the increasing rate of content production on social media. And yet, trust is hard to come by. Social media is filled with falsehoods, misinformation which is a fashionable synonym for lies. Irresponsible authors help propagate misinformation and confusion in the race to be first with the so-called facts to feed to the masses. Thanks to the democratic and principled goals embodied by the freedom of the press, the media can assume the role of metadata steward, one who manages language, and assists in its governance.
If data is the language upon which our modern society will be built, then metadata will be its grammar, the construction of its meaning, the building for its content, and the ability to understand what data can be for us all. Metadata matters because it gives structure and meaning to the data associated with all that we do in our business and personal transactions. Metadata matters because it tells you where your content came from, where it is going, and how it can be used. It is both identification and discovery; it’s about access.
Think of metadata governance as language diplomacy. Governance is about the ability to enable strategic alignment, to facilitate change, and maintain integrity. The best way to plan for change is to apply an effective layer of governance to your metadata. Metadata is about meaning and must change with societal norms in a respectful and inclusive manner. If we accept that language is alive, then we must accept that language will grow, evolve, and change over time. Some things need to change as a matter of respect, and other things change as a matter of sociopolitical cultural changes in the words we use and their meanings.
I proudly acknowledge and welcome the quote by author Angela Duckworth who avows, “language is one way to cultivate hope; people can learn to learn.” We love language, in particular the way in which words are used to describe and imbue not only emotion into their meaning, but in the descriptive, structural, and administrative elements that define our documents, photos, videos and other artefacts in our history and in our present. Metadata matters in how meaning is expressed in the words being used. I look forward to a future where data has been grounded in good governance and the ability to present itself as accurate, authoritative, and authentic. Identify trusted sources of information, mute the “noise” and corrupted information on social media and take the time to evaluate what has been presented.
Let us all recognize this, acknowledge this change in our language, and show respect where respect is due.
Disclaimer
I am many things, but most certainly not a robot. It seems awkward to have to provide such a disclaimer, but I wrote this article myself, and no AI was involved in its creation.
Not a robot, but a human.
Sources
2 – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-websites-words-dei.html
