Air Force Academy Professor Defends Teaching of Critical Race Theory

Members of the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 2021 salute during their graduation ceremony at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo., on May 26, 2021. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

A professor at U.S. Air Force Academy is arguing that Critical Race Theory (CRT) should be taught to cadets of all military schools, so that they have a “sensitive understanding” of “inequality” supposedly embedded in the Constitution, to which they have sworn to defend.

Lynne Chandler Garcia, who teaches political science at the USAFA (U.S. Air Force Academy) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Tuesday published an op-ed in the Washington Post, in which she voiced support for Chairman Of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley. During a June 23 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, the 4-star general said he didn’t see an issue with service members studying Marxism or CRT, which is rooted in Marxist theory of class struggle but with a focus on race.

“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,” Garcia explained, adding that CRT helps cadets in her class learn about an alleged “duality” in America’s founding ideals, as expressed in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

“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,” she wrote. “Critical Race Theory provides an academic framework to understand these nuances and contradictions.”

Garcia also claimed that George Washington, the first Commander in Chief of the U.S. military, was racist because he “is said to have initially opposed the recruitment of black soldiers” into the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

“In other words, racism was ingrained in the system from the beginning, and the military still struggles with these issues,” she added.

Garcia concluded by saying that future USAF officers will be leading racially diverse units, therefore they need to have a comprehensive understanding of racism and be able to “think critically and read broadly”—an argument used by Gen. Milley during his Congressional hearing.

Last month, Milley was questioned by Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a former Army Green Beret, about whether the U.S. military is becoming “woke” as military schools, such as the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, incorporate CRT into their teaching.

“What is wrong with understanding—having some situational understanding—about the country for which we are here to defend?” he replied, adding that he finds it offensive when military officers are called “woke” for reading about “theories that are out there,” and that reading works of Marx, Lenin, and Mao didn’t make him a communist.

“I do think it’s important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read,” Milley said.

Former President Donald Trump, who appointed Milley to replace Ret. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford as the highest-ranking military officer in 2019, is calling on him to resign.

“I watched his statements and it was pathetic,” Trump told Newsmax two days after the Congressional hearing.

“They didn’t talk that way when I was around,” he said. “They didn’t talk that way or I would have gotten rid of them in two minutes.”