“I told the 4th Regimental Tactical Officer about it, and they did nothing.” “I had a racist roommate that would call me the n-word and spit on me,” one cadet wrote. “Though we are deeply disturbed, we hold fast to the hope that our Alma Mater will take the necessary steps to champion the values it espouses,” the letter said.Īn appendix offered anonymous testimonials gathered last year from West Point cadets about incidents they said went unaddressed by school officials.
West Point did not respond to repeated requests for comment, beyond reiterating the importance of diversity to its admissions process and to preparing cadets for leadership.įollowing the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which sparked protests around the globe, a group of prominent West Point alums had released a 40-page letter urging the academy to address “major failures” in combatting intolerance and racism. He said the DOD formed a special team in April to advance progress on diversity, equity and inclusion across the entire department, including the academies. Charlie Dietz, said the service academies make it a policy to offer equal opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. In response to the AP’s findings, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, Maj. “I was walking with a classmate and we were both speaking Spanish when a white, male upperclassman turned around and said ‘Speak English, this is America,’” a 2020 Air Force Academy graduate wrote in one post. Some students of color have spotlighted what they see as systemic racism and discrimination at the academies by creating Instagram accounts - “ Black at West Point,” “ Black at USAFA ” and “ Black at USNA ” - to relate their personal experiences. “We just feel it, we feel the energy behind it, and it just eats us away,” he said. Xavier Bruce, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1999 and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel during his 24 years of duty, said that for him, it was the ongoing slights directed at him as a Black man, rather than openly racist behavior, that cut deep. “It was a very deliberate choice to dig and to push on certain individuals compared with other cadets - white cadets.” “I was repeatedly in trouble or being corrected for infractions that were not actually infractions,” he said.
0 kommentar(er)
