The U.S. military is being attacked from within. But instead of rifles and tanks, the weapon being used to dismantle our armed forces is progressive ideology.
The latest target is the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, which was established by George Washington and is where our rising generation of Army officers are schooled. Government watchdog Judicial Watch just uncovered that West Point leadership has been force-feeding cadets the tenets of critical race theory, a Marxist theory that stokes racial separatism.
As a result of two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits against the Department of Defense, Judicial Watch forced the release of more than 600 pages of PowerPoint slides, handouts, and other curricula used to educate West Point cadets on topics such as “modern day slavery in the USA.”
The documents from West Point reveal an assault on cadets in the form of race-based shaming that paints one race as an oppressor and another as the victim. In one presentation, for example, titled “‘Race and the Invisible Hand’: How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-Collar Jobs,” West Point cadets were taught that white people are malicious oppressors. The academy’s training materials also described whiteness as “a standpoint or place from which white people look at themselves and the rest of society.”
Cadets were directed to “consider how the contemporary issues that relate to race, gender, and sexuality apply to the army and how they impact the army officer.” The materials went on to explain that CRT’s concepts “are essential for future military officers to understand and fully absorb.” And, if that’s not enough, students learned the fundamentals of feminist theory and queer theory in a three-credit social sciences class titled “The Politics of Race, Gender, and Sexuality.”
CRT is a threat to our nation. It arises from the Marxist intellectual framework against which the United States fought during the Cold War. And although the U.S. defeated the imminent military threat of Marxist communism in the 1980s, it lives on beneath the banner of CRT and has infiltrated every aspect of American society, from cultural institutions to the workplace and now the U.S. military. Allowing CRT to permeate military education betrays those who fought and still defend this nation against the Marxist totalitarian menace.
Unfortunately, the Biden administration has made critical race theory a primary governing principle. Indeed, Gen. Darryl Williams, the West Point superintendent responsible for the CRT abuse of the cadets in his care, was given a fourth star by Biden and promoted to commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
Congress can end this insanity, but the Democratic-controlled congress is set to push back on any attempts to restrict CRT and its inclusion in our military’s education programs.
It’s no wonder, then, that the U.S. Army is projected to fall 10,000 soldiers short this fiscal year. Why would American patriots join today’s Army, which seems too often to oppose fundamental American values?
Thankfully, the abuse at West Point is not going unnoticed. West Point graduates recently signed a letter objecting to the teaching of radical agendas at the academy. The letter points out that by teaching CRT and hosting progressive guest speakers, West Point violated U.S. Army regulations by permitting political activism on campus. And, as the graduates argued, CRT indoctrination at West Point does more harm than good by placing race at the forefront of U.S. military education.
The military has long sought to embody Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream that people “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” through its commitment to character and common purpose. In fact, the military uniform is a great equalizer that has long united people regardless of color, class, gender, and religion. But by sowing racial divisions between cadets, CRT fosters resentment and anger instead of the unity essential for an effective fighting force.
Studies show that bonds of unity play a significant role on the front lines. Nearly all soldiers report a “fused” identity with their battalions akin to the fusion between themselves and their own family members, according to a University of Oxford study. When asked which group they felt most fused to, 45% of soldiers chose their own battalions over their families. Manufacturing political and racial tensions between cadets in training could create disastrous consequences for battalion cohesion and Army leadership down the road — which, from our enemies’ perspective, could be the point.
The ideological attack on West Point cadets (and the woke leadership in our military’s other academies) must stop. Such blatantly racist, anti-American propaganda not only threatens to radicalize the next generation of U.S. Army leadership, but it undermines the purpose of our military: to identify, confront, and destroy the enemy. If critical race theory persists in the training of future officers, they will see the enemy as their fellow American.
Tom Fitton is the president of Judicial Watch.
