USNA message: we don’t mind bigots

This is a classic example of putting out mixed messages. I can't believe people in Annapolis defend this. Shame.

Chris Ledoux thought he might sponsor a midshipman at the United States
Naval Academy. Opening one's home as a safe haven to a plebe, or academy freshman, is an Annapolis tradition and a point of pride to many Annapolitans.

But Ledoux got no farther than page four on the application -- and a pair of questions that required him to state whether he would prefer a plebe of a particular religion or race.

In 2006 there is no excuse, but as I will discuss at the end of the post; I am not surprised.

"This is not a dating service," said Ledoux, an Annapolis resident.
"This is the federal government. And when the federal government is asking questions like, 'What race do you prefer?' they need to be careful."

No, they need to get rid of the questions.

The academy said in a prepared statement that the questions "are in the best interests of the midshipmen to help them feel comfortable with their sponsor family."

What are we trying to teach these future officers? They damn sure better learn to be comfortable with other races and religions – now. If they can’t, I have no use for them in my Navy.

Carl Snowden, an aide to the county executive and prominent civil rights leader, said in a statement that to ask for racial preferences "creates an apartheid system in their sponsor program that is both repugnant and unacceptable for a publicly funded agency."

Keith Gross, a black Annapolitan from the Clay Street projects who graduated from the academy in 1981, said he, too, considers the questions inappropriate. He said the academy's response -- that its goal was to make midshipmen feel comfortable -- invokes anachronistic attitudes about race.

These two gentlemen are exactly right. Full stop.

Academy officials said only 1 percent of sponsor families had stated racial or religious preferences in the past two years.

The application "is used to evaluate and match sponsor families with incoming midshipmen of similar interests" or with specific midshipmen requested by the sponsors, the academy said in its statement. Midshipmen may state preferences, as well. Whenever possible, matches are based on those preferences.

I am sorry; you cannot explain this away. This is wrong. Sure, there is a little wiggleroom to say if this organization is racist or not, but one step at a time.

We also have a problem in the Fleet with mixed messages, starting with the “Anyone but White Males or Mixed Race Folks” appreciation months.

Here is another dirty little secret: the Navy in general and Annapolis in particular has been Mau-mau’d into submission by the PC Apartheid Industry who fully push their twisted, polluted identity politics with the full support of the Diversity Bullies who everyone is rightly scared senseless of. Make no mistake, there are racists in the military, just like all society – of every color – and there always will be. We do not fix the problem by allowing racial preferences, or religious preferences to drive who Navy members will socialize with – or allow those concepts to swim in the honor, courage and commitment that should define all we do.

Some people will self-segregate on their own. There is little we can do about that, but we shouldn’t encourage or condone it – or facilitate it.

We injure our Navy by setting a tone that it is OK to be uncomfortable around those who are different then you are – or that you should avoid those who are different. Four months into a six month deployment is not the time to find out.

Too many people have sacrificed too much for that attitude to get official endorsement in 2006.

Annapolis, lead from the front. Unless it is telling people that Protestant services are at 0900, Catholic at 1000, and the Rabbi will
be on the 1400 helo – cut out the Apartheid.

BT.

While we are talking about Annapolis, if you have an interest in some of the nasty and sad details of the Owens' Courts Martial, there is a few first hand accounts over at the Countervailing Force.