Bob CollinsLt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria, who runs the Air Force Academy, conducted a clinic on Thursday for any leader on how to respond to racial and sexual harassment.
Racial slurs were found on the message boards of five African-American cadets at the Academy’s prep school this week.
Silveria ordered all the cadets to a meeting, and then he rained hell on them.
“We come from all walks of life,” he said. “We come from all parts of this country. We come from all races. We come from all backgrounds, gender, all makeup, all upbringings. The power of that diversity comes together and makes us that much more powerful.”
"If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect–then you need to get out."-Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria, Superintendent @AF_Academy pic.twitter.com/njCktv5Fmp
— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) September 28, 2017
One of the victims’ father told Air Force Times the message scrawled on the message board, “go home n*****r” , will not affect his son.
“The word has zero power in my house,” his father said. “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. You don‘t have to defend intelligence, you don’t have to defend common sense, you don’t have to defend confidence. He’s fine.”
[Update 11/8/17] — The messages were written by an African American cadet, according to a statement from the Air Force Academy.
“We can confirm that one of the cadet candidates who was allegedly targeted by racist remarks written outside of their dorm room was actually responsible for the act. The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation. Racism has no place at the academy, in any shape or form.”
