Rep. Waltz Questions Military Academy Leaders on CRT

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., this week questioned the heads of the country's military academies about whether they would allow the teaching of critical race theory.

Superintendents Lieutenant General Steven W. Gilland of West Point, Vice Admiral Sean Buck of the U.S. Naval Academy, and Lieutenant General Richard M. Clark of the U.S. Air Force Academy testified before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

During the hearing, Waltz read a quote from the book "White Fragility" by Robin DiAngelo, a professor of education at the University of Washington who the congressman described as one of "the leading proponents of" critical race theory.

Waltz quoted DiAngelo as saying "A positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy. This does not mean that we should stop identifying as white and start claiming only to be Italian or Irish. To do so is to deny the reality of racism in the here and now; and this denial would simply be color-blind racism. Rather, I strive to be 'less white.' To be less white is to be less racially oppressive."

Waltz asked Gen. Clark whether he agreed with that statement.

"Sir, that is not what she was espousing," Clark said. "She was not indoctrinating."

He added, "She was encouraging the discourse on the topic, the civil discourse."

When asked if he would encourage someone who is teaching white supremacy to have that discourse?" Clark said, "We encourage all civil discourse, so our cadets can learn how to think."

Waltz later said that "The concern of this committee is that we have political pressure to tip the scales from a meritocracy, in any way shape or form based on some other ethnic or race factor. That's what we want to be sure is not happening … Is there any incident where you have allowed a selection, the accession, of a lower-scoring candidate … over someone with a higher full candidate score based on meeting your diversity goals?"