GOP Rep. Calls for Removal of Air Force Professor Who Promoted CRT

Representative Mark Green (R., Tenn.) called for an Air Force Academy professor to be ousted from her role on Wednesday after she suggested that critical race theory should be taught at the service academies.

Lynne Chandler García, an associate professor of political science, wrote in an essay in the Washington Post on Tuesday that CRT should be taught to cadets because it helps them “identify the structural racism and inequality that has been endemic in American society.”

Green, a U.S. Military Academy West Point alumnus and Army veteran who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, called the professor’s comments a “full-throttled attack on our country.”

In a letter to Acting Secretary of the Air Force John P. Roth on Wednesday, Green said García’s remarks should disqualify her from teaching at the Air Force Academy.

“Teaching our next generation that our country is fundamentally racist is not only propagandizing lies about our great nation, it will also undoubtedly leave an impact on our nation’s Armed Forces and national security,” Green wrote. “This teaching is utterly incompatible with the principles in the Declaration of Independence and the Civil Rights Movement—not to mention illegal. … If we allow this destructive ideology to be taught in our Military Service Academies, we will be responsible for this nation’s demise.”

Meanwhile, Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said the professor’s essay shows that political indoctrination is happening in service academy classrooms.

García’s comments come after General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, denied accusations that the military has gone “woke” and defended the U.S. military academy’s teaching of critical race theory, saying that it is important to have some “situational understanding” of the country’s history.

During testimony before the House Armed Services Committee regarding the budget request for the Department of Defense, Milley said that “on the issue of critical race theory” he believes it is “important actually for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and widely read.”

The testimony came after Representative Mike Waltz (R., Fla.) demanded that West Point stop teaching cadets critical race theory.

Waltz first contacted West Point Superintendent Lieutenant General Darryl Williams in April to question the school’s curriculum around race after he obtained examples of a lecture entitled “Understanding Whiteness and White Rage” and a classroom slide labeled “White Power at West Point.”

Waltz called the teachings “divisive,” “destructive,” and “unacceptable” for the future leaders of the U.S. military.

More from National Review

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Denies Military Has Gone ‘Woke,’ Says He ‘Wants to Understand White Rage’

• House Republicans Propose Bill to Cut Funding to Schools That Push Critical Race Theory

• Teachers’-Union Head Claims CRT Is Only Taught at Colleges