By Joseph Summers
Article Source
New documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) have revealed that cadets at West Point are being taught Critical Race Theory (CRT).
Over 600 documents handed over to Judicial Watch reveal slideshows about “whiteness,” affirmative action, and “queer theory.”
In a statement released by Judicial Watch, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said, “Our military is under attack – from within. These documents show racist, anti-American CRT propaganda is being used to try to radicalize our rising generation of Army leadership at West Point,” Fitton continued.
One presentation has a slide called “whiteness,” which teaches that “In order to understand racial inequality and slavery, it is first necessary to address whiteness.” The slide also mentions the “Take-it-for-grantedness of whiteness” and says that “whiteness” is “a location of structural advantage, of racial privilege.” The slide continues by stating whiteness “is a standpoint or place from which white people look at themselves and the rest of society” and “refers to a set of cultural practices that are usually unmar
A presentation called “Education and Inequality at Work” asks “Do you think Affirmative Action creates an environment for ‘reverse discrimination?’ Use CRT to support your answer.” Another slide in the presentation asks “how would you apply a tenant of CRT to this idea (sic),” referring to the difference between desegregation and integration.
Another presentation claims that “racism is ordinary, race is socially constructed, and White Americans have primarily benefited from civil rights legislation.”
The DOD documents also contain a syllabus for a course called “The Politics of Race, Gender, and Sexuality.” A book called Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, serves as assigned reading for the course. According to the course syllabus, the course serves as “an introduction to the concepts of post-modernism,” including “a focus on feminist theory, critical race theory, and queer theory.”
Last year, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret, obtained documents that revealed that cadets at West Point were being taught CRT. In a letter to Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the superintendent of West Point, Waltz wrote “Information has recently come to my attention from unsettled soldiers, cadets, and families that raises serious concerns about the U.S. Army’s introduction of elements of critical race theory into cadet instruction.” Williams later confirmed that the documents obtained by Waltz were authentic.
In a statement to Breitbart about the Judicial Watch documents, Waltz wrote “The findings from Judicial Watch confirm what we exposed last year – that the indoctrination of Critical Race Theory is occurring at one of our most prestigious military academies. These teachings are not only divisive but teach our future military leaders who swore an oath to protect and defend the United States that our country is fundamentally racist, misogynist, and Colonialist.”
“On the battlefield, the only color that matters is camouflage and the enemy’s bullets certainly don’t care about race. Once Republicans take back Congress, we are going to investigate this further and put an end to this indoctrination,” Waltz concluded.
CRT has been used by the military in instruction for cadets in the past. Last year, Republican Representative Jim Banks of Indiana confronted U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday for the Navy’s recommendation of a book by far-left radical Ibram X. Kendi called How to Be an Anti-Racist. The navy stopped recommending the book last month.
CRT has also made inroads into public education. A school district in Ohio was caught running a teachers’ training session that instructed teachers to be “antiracist” “co-conspirators” when teaching a curriculum “rooted in whiteness.” Earlier this month, Attorney General Eric Schmitt of Missouri subpoenaed seven school districts over surveys that asked students invasive questions on topics from race to gender theory.
An Indianapolis public school teacher revealed last November that Indianapolis schools teach CRT, while the district denied that it did.
The army is set to shrink in the coming fiscal year. Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Carmillo announced at a press briefing in April that the army is set to shrink from 485,000 soldiers to 476,000 for 2022, and 473,000 for 2023. Some conservatives have noted that the likely cause for the decrease has been the increase of CRT training in the army and the imposition of COVID mandates.
LifeSite reached out to West Point for comment but has yet to receive a response.