Air Force Academy professor says US shaped by ‘history of racism,’ tries to defend critical race theory

By Mike Brest  |  Washington Examiner

A professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy said critical race theory is “vital,” claiming the United States has a history of racism that “shaped both foreign and domestic policy.”

Teaching the theory “is not unpatriotic,” said Lynne Chandler Garcia, an associate professor at the school, adding that it does not “promote division among our military members.” It is unclear if Garcia served in a military capacity. Her faculty page cites a military analyst position with the U.S. Army.

“As a professor of political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy, 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,” she wrote in an opinion article Tuesday.

Institutions in the country are designed to keep white people ahead of minorities and the only way to achieve a just society is to dismantle the system, critical race theorists allege.

Garcia tries to teach her students the “duality” of “liberalism and equal rights on the one hand” and “inequality, inegalatarianism and second-class citizenship on the other,” she noted, saying critical race theory provides “an academic framework for deconstructing oppressive beliefs, policies and practices to find solutions that will lead to justice.”

The U.S. military was racist during its infancy because, she claimed, former President George Washington is said to have opposed black soldiers in the military, making racism “ingrained in the system from the beginning.”

The topic of critical race theory has become a dominant narrative in public discourse in recent months. Opponents have frequently raised their objections during school board meetings across the country.

The National Education Association voted during its annual assembly earlier in July to support teaching critical race theory in K-12 schools.

“On the issue of critical race theory, etc., a lot of us have to get much smarter on whatever the theory is,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on June 23. “But I do think it’s important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read. I want to understand white rage, and I’m white.”