Air Force Academy Football Team BLM Video

The video that brought concerned USAFA grads together to form STARRS because the United States Air Force’s military academy football team was taking an active stance for an organization founded by self-declared Marxists.

Watch:

Air Force football takes firm social stance with video in support of Black Lives Matter

By Brent Briggeman | Colorado Springs Gazette | Jul 7, 2020

Air Force football took a definitive side in an ongoing social movement Tuesday.

“Because we believe Black Lives Matter,” coach Troy Calhoun said in closing of a video shared on social media.

The majority of sports teams and conferences have issued statements in recent weeks as the death of George Floyd reopened national unrest over topics of systemic racism and police brutality. The Falcons took their approach a step beyond in this video with Calhoun and his full staff elaborating on the problems it perceives nationally and the steps needed to change them. In the process they touched on topics as far-reaching as health care and education.

“This is not a political choice of Marxism or capitalism,” Calhoun said.

“This is the basic regard and respect for human life and dignity,” defensive line coach Bill Sheridan followed.

Of course, in these charged times and with the message coming from a service academy, there was an instant political reaction to the video on social media

“Endorcing (sic) a marxist movement,” the first comment on Twitter said. “I thought ‘INTEGRITY FIRST, SERVICE BEFORE SELF, AND EXCELLENCE IN ALL WE DO’ was a good start.”

Others questioned the facts behind the Black Lives Movement the team was supporting.

There was also a wave of positive responses to the video, which was viewed on Twitter more than 6,000 times in its first two hours online.

“Thank you Air Force Football for taking a stand!” said one commenter.

If there is a national line in the sand dividing sides of the issue, Air Force’s football team left no question as to which side it stands.

“There’s no neutral nor in-between,” offensive line coach Steed Lobotzke said, “when it comes to racism.”

From the History of STARRS:

The genesis of our organization, Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Incorporated (STARRS, Inc.) began in July 2020, when Rod Bishop (USAFA ‘74), Dr. Ron Scott (USAFA ‘73), and a small group of interested individuals viewed a three minute United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) football team video promoting Black Lives Matter (BLM).

Specifically, the film was openly advocating a controversial and divisive political agenda, as heard in the film’s repeated phrase promoting “anti-Racism”, which is a primary component of Critical Race Theory (CRT).

Widely misunderstood, CRT is simply Marxism repackaged in new terms such as equity, and is ultimately an ideological tool used to divide.

Recognizing the seriousness of the development, the group approached the Academy leadership in an effort to remove the controversial video and to prevent the introduction of CRT into the academy’s curriculum.

The group raised their concerns with the then Academy Superintendent, the Athletic Director and Football Coach and although their concerns were dismissed, the group continued their discussions while a new incoming Academy Superintendent soon assumed command.

As months passed, the small group began to grow as word spread of their efforts and others began to realize that there was a concerted effort to teach and implement aspects of CRT in not just the military academies, but the US Armed Forces in general. . . . . (read more)