West Point cadets have been taught that “whiteness” connotes “race privilege” and “structural advantage” as part of instructions based on critical race theory, according to newly revealed documents and course materials from the military academy.
Among the trove of documents — which were handed over to Judicial Watch after a public records lawsuit — are presentation slides instructing cadets that “in order to understand racial inequality and slavery, it is first necessary to address whiteness.”
“Whiteness,” the slide reads, 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 unmarked and unnamed.”
Another slide that contains a graphic that reads: “MODERN DAY SLAVERY IN THE USA” instructs students on the disparities between Black people and White people.
The presentation points out that Black people are less likely to “have a college education, receive recommended medical screening tests, receive bank approval for a housing mortgage, own their own homes or receive a job promotion.”
The Department of Defense turned over more than 600 pages of documents including presentation slides, course outlines and emails exposing the extent of CRT instruction at West Point.
“Our military is under attack – from within,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “These documents show racist, anti-American CRT propaganda is being used to try to radicalize our rising generation of Army leadership at West Point.”
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Critical race theory or CRT began at universities in the 1970s as a legal theory examining bias within institutions and has spread throughout American schools. The theory, which has evolved from a legal framework, asserts that a racial hierarchy exists in American society and that racism has become normalized in the U.S.
Critics say it divides students along racial fault lines and is used as a political indoctrination tool by the far left.
At West Point, one presentation informs cadets that “racism is ordinary, race is socially constructed, and White Americans have primarily benefited from civil rights legislation.”
The Freedom of Information Act lawsuit was filed amid reports, including by The Washington Times, that CRT was also showing up in military training and recommended reading lists for service members, and was being taught at the service academies.
Rep. Mike Waltz, Florida Republican, said last year that he received presentation materials that raised “serious concerns about the U.S. Army’s introduction of elements of critical race theory into cadet instruction.”
He said the superintendent of West Point confirmed that the academy hosted a course that includes critical race theory and a seminar titled “Understanding Whiteness and White Rage” that was attended by more than a hundred cadets.
The seminar was “taught by a woman who described the Republican Party and Republican Party platform [as] a platform of white supremacy,” according to the lawmakers.
The new documents show that cadets are also offered a 3-credit class titled “The Politics of Race, Gender and Sexuality,” which includes “Critical Race Theory: An Introduction” by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic as assigned reading.
According to the syllabus, the course serves as “an introduction to the concepts of post-modernism” and includes “a focus on feminist theory, critical race theory, and queer theory.”
One slide presentation titled “Queer Theory and Policy” instructs cadets that “heterosexuality is the basis for sexual formations,” “queer theory is multidisciplinary” and “gay and lesbian issues get combined into one category when they are not the same.”
“The concepts that will be discussed in this class are essential for future military officers to understand and fully absorb,” according to the syllabus.
The documents underscore how deeply the U.S. armed forces have become enmeshed in America’s culture wars, much to the ire of Republican lawmakers.
“The U.S. military must focus on confronting the New Axis of Evil — Communist China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican said following a Senate committee mark-up of the annual defense policy bill last week. “These regimes do not care how woke our military is or what our soldiers’ pronouns are.”
