Weinstein & LaBrique Write Op-Ed on White Nationalists in the U.S. Military
Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, Professor of the Practice of International Security at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, and Lauren LaBrique (Pardee ’22) coauthored an op-ed discussing white nationalism in the U.S. military and the need to eradicate it in BU Today.
In the op-ed – originally written by LaBrique as part of Weinstein’s class – the two outline a number of recent cases where white nationalists groups have made their way into military service to gain weapons expertise and recruit military members for their access to weaponry in hopes of inciting a race war. The authors call on Congress to conduct an investigation into the pervasiveness of the problem because, as it stands, their presence tarnishes the reputation of the U.S. military and puts minority troops at greater risk.
An excerpt:
Even though military leaders do not see white nationalism as a problem, a 2019 Military Times poll found that 36 percent of troops who responded had seen evidence of white supremacist and racist ideologies in the military, a significant rise from the year before, when only 22 percent – about 1 in 5 – reported the same in the 2018 poll. The 2019 poll offers a troubling snapshot of military members’ exposure to extremist views while serving, despite efforts from military leaders to promote diversity and respect for all races.
That should outrage and appall all of us. Membership in any of these groups must immediately disqualify anyone from military service and result in immediate removal from military service once they’re exposed. In a system that gives so much discretion to commanders, minority troops cannot afford to have white nationalists exist freely in the military system.
The full op-ed can be found here.
USAF (Ret) Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, Lieutenant General, USAF, (Ret), served in the U. S. Air Force from 1982 to 2018. Prior to arriving at the Pardee School of Global Studies, he was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters United States Air Force, the Pentagon. In this position, he was responsible to the Secretary and Chief of Staff on all aspects of nuclear deterrence operations providing direction, guidance, integration and advocacy regarding the nuclear deterrence mission of the U.S. Air Force and engaged with joint, interagency and NATO for nuclear enterprise solutions. Read more about him here.