At the U.S. Air Force Academy, new cadets are required to watch a training video that promotes supporting Black Lives Matter.
The video includes a scenario with Jose, a mixed-race student, whose friends pressure him to attend a Black Lives Matter campus meeting.
A third friend is introduced to Jose for the first time and he seems surprised that Jose doesn’t look “more south of the border”. Jose explains that he’s Mexican and Nigerian, and the third friend says “No offense, but it seems like all lives matter would be a better way to bring people together”.
The friend adds, “Because Blacks aren’t the only lives that matter. It just seems like you’re dad’s family matters less than your mom’s”. The video pauses to give the student three response options, all of which support the Black Lives Matter movement.
The three options all include the students discussing how their friend’s comments are “insensitive” and “problematic”.
The Academy’s “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion” training is given to all incoming students and is required “for inbound cadets (appointees) ahead of their arrival to the U.S. Air Force Academy”, says the Academy’s Chief of Media Relations Dean J. Miller.
This is the first year that the training will be used at the Academy and across the country.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has faced criticism about the military supporting critical race theory. Back in June at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Austin said the Department of Defense does not embrace the theory.
Many have taken to Twitter to comment about the inclusion training, noting that the Air Force and U.S. Military have more important things to worry about than BLM.