GOP and Veterans Fight Against Teaching Critical Race Theory in Military

A group of veterans have joined with congressional Republicans in calling on the military to drop plans to embrace antiracism education such as critical race theory, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

“Rather than e pluribus unum, rather than teamwork, rather than cohesion, we’re being taught an ideology which seeks to divide us based on the color of our skin,” retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Rod Bishop told the Free Beacon. “I’ve flown into combat zones. It didn’t matter if my copilot was black or not. How are we better for teaching all the elements of critical race theory?”

Bishop was prompted by a film released last July in which the U.S. Air Force Academy football team endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement and antiracism education. The Free Beacon reports that Bishop’s complaints were ignored by the leaders at the academy, as were other veterans who made similar complaints at other academies and bases, leading Bishop to co-found the nonprofit group Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, or STARRS, which he says has hundreds of members, including more than a dozen current and retired military officers.

“There’s a culture of fear within the military now,” Bishop added. “On the one hand, it’s okay to cheer on Black Lives Matter, but if you speak out against this Marxist ideology you’ll be relieved of your duties. Ask yourself, ‘Is this what China and Russia are concerned about?'”

A group of 30 congressional Republicans recently wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pushing for him to “take action to fight back against the creeping left-wing extremism in the U.S. military,” following the dismissal of U.S. Space Force Lt. Colonel Matthew Lohmeier, who said that “Our diversity, inclusion and equity industry and the trainings we’re receiving in the military via that industry are rooted in critical race theory which is rooted in Marxism.”

“The military’s long history of standing above politics has made it one of the most respected institutions in America and enabled our armed forces to both defend the Homeland and serve as one of the bulwarks of our constitutional order,” wrote Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont. “That legacy is now in jeopardy.”

Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, who signed the letter, said that “Patriotic Americans cannot stand idly by watching the politicization of our armed forces. George Washington — first a general, then a president — relinquished his commission before entering office. A truly visionary leader, he recognized the perils of a politically-biased military. Our men and women in uniform are not lab rats in a social science experiment.”

The Pentagon did not respond to the Free Beacon’s request for comment.