Weinstein Discusses Issue of White Nationalism in the Military
On January 21, 2020, Lt Gen Jack Weinstein, USAF (Ret), Professor of the Practice of International Security at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, appeared on GBH to discuss ways to root out white nationalists in the United States military.
“Greater Boston” host Jim Braude led by mentioning the findings of Weinstein’s BU Today op-ed discussing white nationalism in the U.S. military, which was co-authored with his student Lauren LaBrique (Pardee ’22) in June 2020. In the article, Weinstein and LaBrique explain why white nationalist groups recruit members of the military, why they encourage their member to join the military, as well as the fact that membership in a white nationalist organization is not grounds for removal from the military.
In his appearance, Weinstein reiterated his point that white nationalism is a “cancer” that needs to be eradicated from the U.S. military. Data indicates that 36% of military members witnessed racism in their ranks in 2019, and according to Weinstein the military was negligent in addressing this issues. However, with a new President and Secretary of Defense, he hopes that these problems will be tackled. In closing, Weinstein offered three suggestions for rooting out white nationalists in the military and identifying them in recruitment:
- Search white-nationalist social media groups for photos of people in uniform, and remove them from the military,
- Screen people before they come on active duty to make sure they are not a member of a white nationalist or extremist group.
- Determine whether recruiters are bringing white nationalist members into the military’s ranks.
Weinstein’s full appearance on GBH can be viewed below.
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 Weinstein on his faculty profile.