Air Force General Enraged By Racial Slurs, Lines Up Airmen For Powerful Speech.

The men and women who serve in our armed forces put their lives on the line to protect our freedom.

On the front lines, race, gender, and religion don’t matter. They shouldn’t matter back home, either. That’s why, when racial slurs were found at the United States Air Force Academy’s preparatory school, Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria immediately convened students, faculty, and leaders in the community, to express his outrage over the incident.

“If you’re outraged by those words, then you’re in the right place,” he said.


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Lt. Gen. Silveria was speaking about the racist words left on multiple African-American cadets’ messageboards.


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The father of one of the boys affected, also gave this powerful statement to the Air Force Times about the situation:

“The word has zero power in my house. Zero power. The word is not going to yield a reaction. My initial advice to him was, respond with intelligence, do not react, do not get upset.”

“That individual is going to go home disgraced. Him or her is the real victim, because they were raised with that kind of vitriol and that kind of hate. My son is not a victim, I don’t view him as a victim.â€

 


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In response to the racist act, the General gathered everyone in one place to show them how he felt.

 “That kind of behavior has no place at the prep school, it has no place at USAFA, and it has no place in the United States Air Force.”

“You should be outraged not only as an airman but as a human being.”


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One of his ideas for change? The ability to have civil discourse by creating a safe place to talk about the issues that plague our nation currently.

“I would be naive and we would all be naive to think that everything is perfect here. We would be naive to think that we shouldn’t discuss this topic.”

“We come from all walks of life … all parts of this country … the power of that diversity comes together and makes us that much more powerful.”


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He then told the cadets to,”Reach for your phones,” and encouraged them to share this message:

“If you can’t treat someone from another gender, whether that’s a man or a woman, with dignity and respect, then you need to get out. If you demean someone in any way, then you need to get out. And if you can’t treat someone from another race or a different color skin with dignity and respect, then you need to get out.â€

Watch the entire address below. What do you think of his powerful message?

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