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Air Force Academy professor who teaches critical race theory says all troops should learn it so they can ID 'structural racism and inequality'
Christian Murdock/Colorado Springs Gazette/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Air Force Academy professor who teaches critical race theory says all troops should learn it so they can ID 'structural racism and inequality'

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley faced serious criticism after he defended to congressional Republicans the fact that the U.S. Military Academy at West Point teaches critical race theory and held a "white rage" seminar.

"I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military … of being 'woke' or something else because we're studying some theories that are out there," Milley told lawmakers, MarketWatch reported.

It turns out West Point is not the only military academy where CRT is part of the curriculum.

Air Force Academy associate professor Lynne Chander Garcia wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post this week that she teaches the divisive curriculum at the Colorado Springs outpost and that she wants all U.S. troops to learn it.

You see, it's important, she said, for members of the military to have a proper understanding of the "history of racism" that shaped the U.S. Constitution — the Constitution they've sworn to defend.

Chandler Garcia said that CRT is not divisive among military members and that she wants troops to "understand a fuller version of American history" — that "fuller" history being the U.S. history of racism:

As a professor of political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy, I teach critical race theories to our nation's future military leaders because it is vital that cadets understand the history of the racism that has shaped both foreign and domestic policy.

Cadets, like all military members, take an oath to defend the Constitution with their lives — so it is crucial they have a sensitive understanding of that Constitution.

In my classes, cadets learn about the ideals embedded in this founding document. We explore the liberalist theories that promoted these ideals, and we embrace our democratic system of government. But we also acknowledge that the United States was founded on a duality: liberalism and equal rights on the one hand; inequality, inegalitarianism and second-class citizenship on the other.

The professor further asserted that she wants her military students to be able to "identify the structural racism and inequality that has been endemic in American society."

She went on to tout the military's progressive history on race, having been one of the first institutions to desegregate, and on its long history of diversity.

But she was sure to point out that racism was in the military from the beginning — including with George Washington, who "is said to have initially opposed the recruitment of Black soldiers." (The U.S. Army article she cited also noted that Washington "relented almost immediately" and even had a black bodyguard named Prince Whipple.)

"Racism was ingrained in the system from the beginning," Chandler Garcia wrote, adding, "Black service members lag behind their White peers in promotion rates but are overrepresented in disciplinary actions. Further, a recent Defense Department report documented the threat of white supremacy within the ranks."

Learning CRT is an issue of bravery, much like jumping out of airplanes or leaping off 10-meter platforms or enduring grueling physical challenges, according to the professor.

"Cadets must learn to be brave on the literal battlefield, yes — but they must also be equipped to participate bravely on the battlefield of ideas," she concluded.

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