About a month ago, I wrote an open letter to the U.S. Naval Academy leadership with concerns about their response to a leaked U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Board Member’s racist and misogynistic screed. I urged the institution to take this issue more seriously, not as an attempt to further admonish the individual, but rather to demonstrate the need for introspection and reflection.
The country is coming to terms with economic strife triggered by the global pandemic, divisive national politics, and a simultaneous reckoning with systemic racism. How we move forward, depends not only on changing hearts and minds both internally and externally, but on implementing specific policy changes. Much like COVID-19 that many hoped would just “go away,” systemic racism requires deliberate action to combat it. In other words, we cannot will it away. My hope is that the Naval Academy and similar institutions can and will take specific steps to do this.
To talk about racism, we need to define it. Here, I am using the definition used by Ibram X. Kendi. In brief, racism is a combination of racist ideas and racist policy that leads to normalized racial disparity and oppression. Using essentially the same word in the definition may be confusing, but he expands on this and dedicates time on these terms individually in his book How to Be an Antiracist (One World, 2019). Racism goes beyond simple racist insults or internalized ideology. And thus, a “see something say something” approach to racist behavior or words hardly is sufficient to combat this. We need more than sanctioned agency to call out racism in the military when men like Bethmann can be in positions of power. The Superintendent of the Naval Academy goes on to say that they are taking further steps, so I hope those will come to fruition to undo some of these obstacles.
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This topic makes me uncomfortable. It does so because I am new to it. It does so because I am guilty of accepting and even perpetuating the pervasiveness of racist policy and ideas, and letting them inform my own perceptions and actions. As Marines, we are conditioned to operate in discomfort. Whether its field exercises in winter at The Basic School or in the blistering heat in Afghanistan, the imperative for Marines is to push through and accomplish the mission. Addressing racism is a different type of discomfort, but it tempts me nonetheless to go internal and stop. Maybe that is what some people want, but I have found that others want to be more engaged in this conversation and work together to actively make changes within ourselves and within our institutions. I am reminded also that my discomfort with racism pales in comparison to those who have faced it every day. For those who want to do this, I challenge them to be open to discomfort, and push through it. It is only when we can endure and overcome the discomfort, that we can accomplish the mission.
I received myriad responses to my original article, both publicly and privately, from good friends and strangers, which ranged from praise and encouragement to aggressive condemnation, and everything between. This is my attempt to address some of the more prevalent points that were presented to me. To be clear, racism is not a in intellectual debate for me, but there is a need to understand the problem in order to move towards a solution.
• “I’ve never seen racism during my years in the Navy and Marine Corps. It’s not systemic.”
Racism is saturated with and perpetrated by denial, or as Kendi puts it, “Denial is the heartbeat of racism.” There is a lot to unpack here, but the reality is reflected by the racial disparity in leadership, especially visible among the officer corps as well as in military justice. To acknowledge racial disparity but deny that it is caused by racist ideas and policy is to essentially affirm the core belief of racism, that races and their merit are hierarchical. Of note, the issues that result in disparities in leadership start well before entry into the military and certainly exist outside of it. In the past, the military has conducted studies to investigate racism within its policies. To combat racism, we must face it. As James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Yes, we are improving, but we must do much, much better.
• “Being more ‘diverse’ will lower the standards.”
The single indication that racism is alive and well is when men like Bethmann (overt racists) are condemned as individuals while minorities are grouped in statements such as “Recruiting more minorities will lower our standards.” Standards themselves must be challenged. As an example, the university and college system is phasing out requirements for SATs and ACTs because they have acknowledged the tests can highlight opportunity gaps in higher education. The racial disparity problem is not about the achievement gap, it is about the opportunity gap. The solution is not to carry everyone to the finish line at the same time, but to put the starting line in the same place. Many people are under the illusion that everyone is the same starting point because that was their experience. We are not.
• “What about reverse racism?” and “I don’t see color.”
By definition, reverse racism does not exist. But, let’s actually define this, in the context in which it is used. This argument is used to say that white or white-passing people are oppressed by racism too. While they can be prejudiced against (grouped by their race and associated with certain thoughts or behaviors), this is undeniably different than a history of racist ideological and political oppression. Starting with slavery, Jim Crow laws, red-lining, exclusion acts, internment, and more, communities of color have been excluded from equal play in the American dream. “Reverse racism” is also a whataboutism that attempts to change the subject and reverse the conversation. Simply put, if people felt that strongly they were being subject to oppression, they would be protesting it, not using it as a counterargument to those who are actually protesting against systemic racism. “I don’t see color” is something I repeated and thought was a commendable stance against racism. It is not. To be colorblind is to ignore the lived experiences of those who have to face the challenges of being a person of color every day. There is a culture and history of violence against the bodies of Americans based on their color, such as the decimation of Native lands and people, chattel slavery, Japanese internment, post-9/11 racism and hate crimes toward people of Middle Eastern descent, to name a few. To ignore them, I believe, is counterproductive.
• “Obama and Oprah made it, so obviously minorities can succeed in America.”
This bootstrap argument focuses on the achievement of individuals as the standard rather than the systemic disparity experienced by minorities throughout U.S. history. It requires exceptionalism from the marginalized and allows mediocrity from others. It reinforces the system that exerts this pressure rather than look to change it. It assigns the failure of those who are not Obama or Oprah as their fault, not the system’s. It then applauds the system as progressive for being an enabler of the individual’s success. Listen to Confessions of a Native Son where Mike Loyd and Mike Steadman talk about the figurative lack of boots and the cutting of the bootstraps.
• “Stay in your lane. You had your chance to do something when you were in, you didn’t. You are just participating in ‘woke’ culture.”
I admit I did not have the personal fortitude to consider race as a critical issue much less do anything about it while I was in the military. Since then, I have tried to understand and empathize with the lived experiences of others, particularly my friends who were in with me. I’ve failed to get it right in the past, and still do a lot of times, but am working towards it.
It’s okay to change your mind from what you once thought, even five minutes before, especially if it was problematic. It’s okay to challenge what you were once comfortable with. In fact, it’s necessary.
If you think our we should not question why our fellow citizens feel an urgency for social justice reform and dismiss it as an obeisance to “woke” culture, then you probably stopped reading a while ago. But if you are here, perhaps it is due to a willingness to push through the discomfort of challenging a system you have personally benefitted from and shedding the temptation to result to a tactic known as racial gaslighting.
To paraphrase James Baldwin, I love America and thus insist on my right to critique her perpetually.
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So in this specific context, what can we do at institutions such as the U.S. Naval Academy? There are smarter people there that can come up with better solutions, but here are a few things I can think of.
- Examine the problem whole heartedly with an open mind, and make meaningful This work is slowly happening as evidenced here, here, here, and here.
- The Naval Academy and its alumni at USNAAA should be working together to dismantle not just personal biases but institutional biases. Midshipmen can benefit from the immediate and long-term feedback from graduates to better prepare themselves for the for the fleet.
- Teach history that is more reflective of the diverse talent in the military both their obstacles and successes.
- Expose future officers to more enlisted men and women who they will be leading.
- Reexamine standards that impact admissions, retention, attrition, performance reviews, class standings, etc.
- Involve diverse perspectives in the discussion, not as an addition to the conversation, but as a fundamental shift to the structure and DNA of the organization. Talking amongst ourselves in an echo chamber is not conducive to progress. Adding new doors to a broken car is not the fix—we need to design a new car.
To really move toward change, I think we need to be willing to get uncomfortable. Fielding personal attacks is uncomfortable. Trying to respond to those who want intellectual debates about the lived marginalization of others is uncomfortable. Feeling like you are antagonizing friends and colleagues is uncomfortable. Knowing that despite my intentions, I have and can still hurt people, is uncomfortable. So, this is my attempt at trying to get comfortable being uncomfortable. I invite those who want to be uncomfortable with me, to do so. I think it is the only way forward.
