Controversy of Cadet Group Photo -- Reactions from West Pointers?

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It is a photo. It was done in bad taste and being graduates of a highly regarded institution and future leaders they should have known what the outcome could be. As leaders of our military you would think they would know better. Right now we are a divided nation and they should have acted appropriately. To do a pro-black panther style photo shows me that they are young and yet to learn. Hopefully they do learn and set a better example for our future leaders later in their lives.
 
808DAD said:
It is a photo. It was done in bad taste and being graduates of a highly regarded institution and future leaders they should have known what the outcome could be. As leaders of our military you would think they would know better. Right now we are a divided nation and they should have acted appropriately. To do a pro-black panther style photo shows me that they are young and yet to learn. Hopefully they do learn and set a better example for our future leaders later in their lives.
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Just going to say that . . . thankfully! . . . almost-2LTs are not the "leaders of our military." Nor will they be the "leaders of our military" when they get their commissions in a few weeks. Young officers and young soldiers make mistakes, and generally the military gets that the mistakes they make will be worth the energy and passion and idealism they bring to the job. I'm sure every woman in that photograph is now sadder but wiser about social media, unintended consequences, and all that good stuff. I'm also certain that every woman in that photograph will make some mistakes once she's wearing gold bars. And finally, I'm certain that I'm overall seeing a lot of good future officers in that picture. Had they exercised better judgment and chosen the Marines instead of the Army ;), I would be pleased to serve with any of them.​
 
A pretty thoughtful comment by a USNA grad: https://chartwellwest.com/2016/05/14/fierce-lives-matter/
...One of the most valuable lessons I ever learned at Annapolis was learning the nuance of how not to conform amidst an overwhelming sea of conformity. And learning it meant that I got it wrong a lot more than I got it right. But it was worth it. There’s some heavy decorations and more than a half dozen war time deployments on those idiots in the luau shirts above. All of it powered by one indomitable notion. Don’t tell me I can’t. We were misfits and failures. And people told us in no uncertain terms we weren’t fit to lead. But that streak of defiance, the very one that drove us to places others wouldn’t go, is an important one. The trajectory of mankind has pivoted on that fierce sentiment. It always has. It always will.

So, if you’re going to break that rule, and I want to be clear, it’s a good rule, that’s how you do it. Go be one of the 17 black women on the planet that graduated from West Point this year. And in a moment of pride and realization of all you’ve been through to get to that moment, raise your right fist. Because the world told you and your brothers and sisters that you couldn’t. And you said, don’t tell me I can’t. Because black lives do matter. Because they can be fierce lives. And fierce lives move us. The separation of politics and the military will survive it. So for the vocally outraged I’ll say this. Patch up your angry wounds and move on. Everything is going to be all right.

And for those proud women, I’ll add one more thing. Welcome to the family ladies. Now get to work. There’s plenty of opportunity to put boot to ass for God and country right over the next ridge line. And I would have served with any one of you any day.
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I didn't read the entire article, but I remember being pretty unhappy that awards were given from Daughters of the Confederacy.

Now, I get that people with relative who were confederate soldiers are not also confederates, but it still didn't make sense to me.
 
LineInTheSand said:
I didn't read the entire article, but I remember being pretty unhappy that awards were given from Daughters of the Confederacy.

Now, I get that people with relative who were confederate soldiers are not also confederates, but it still didn't make sense to me.
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It would be a lot more in line with the Army values to say "Look, we named the bases after these old racist white guys because we needed to appeal to southern white men to bolster Army numbers during WWII."
 
scoutpilot said:
It would be a lot more in line with the Army values to say "Look, we named the bases after these old racist white guys because we needed to appeal to southern white men to bolster Army numbers during WWII."
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Is this the complete list?

Fort AP Hill, VA - Confederate General Amborse Powell (AP) Hill
Camp Beauregard LA - Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard
Fort Benning, GA – Confederate Brigadier General Henry L. Benning
Fort Bragg, NC – Confederate General Braxton Bragg
Fort Gordon, GA - Confederate Lieutenant General John Brown Gordon
Fort Hood, TX - Confederate General John Bell Hood
Fort Lee, VA – Confederate General Robert E. Lee
Fort Picket VA - Confederate General George E. Pickett
Fort Polk, LA - Confederate General Reverend Leonidas Polk
Fort Rucker, AL – Confederate Colonel Edmund W. Rucker
Fort Stewart, GA – Confederate Brigadier General Daniel Stewart
Camp Van Dorn MS – Confederate General Earl Van Dorn

You should name these guys-shouldn't you?
 
cga82 said:
Is this the complete list?

Fort AP Hill, VA - Confederate General Amborse Powell (AP) Hill
Camp Beauregard LA - Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard
Fort Benning, GA – Confederate Brigadier General Henry L. Benning
Fort Bragg, NC – Confederate General Braxton Bragg
Fort Gordon, GA - Confederate Lieutenant General John Brown Gordon
Fort Hood, TX - Confederate General John Bell Hood
Fort Lee, VA – Confederate General Robert E. Lee
Fort Picket VA - Confederate General George E. Pickett
Fort Polk, LA - Confederate General Reverend Leonidas Polk
Fort Rucker, AL – Confederate Colonel Edmund W. Rucker
Fort Stewart, GA – Confederate Brigadier General Daniel Stewart
Camp Van Dorn MS – Confederate General Earl Van Dorn

You should name these guys-shouldn't you?
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Fort Jackson, SC- Confederate Lieutenant General "Stonewall" Jackson

I believe the article says Benning and Gordon were named during WW1?
 
I stand corrected...but that name is even "worse" to revisionist historians. :)
 
NTWLF ONE said:
I stand corrected...but that name is even "worse" to revisionist historians. :)
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So how do we teach our history when you want to "revise" it to get rid of any evidence of Confederacy. At this rate, is the textbook only place we will see that Confederacy existed?
 
MemberLG said:
So how do we teach our history when you want to "revise" it to get rid of any evidence of Confederacy. At this rate, is the textbook only place we will see that Confederacy existed?
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I don't want to revise it, I guess my sarcasm wasn't clear enough...

Not even sure any future history textbooks will show Civil War and/or Confederate history in the proper context...one of my son's previous history textbooks, when discussing the space program made no mention of Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Gus Grissom or others. Of course Sally Ride was featured predominately.
 
MemberLG said:
So how do we teach our history when you want to "revise" it to get rid of any evidence of Confederacy. At this rate, is the textbook only place we will see that Confederacy existed?
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What a false dilemma. Teaching the history of the Confederacy is important. But it needs to be taught correctly, i.e. that the right of the South to keep slaves was the central cause of secession (as evidenced in numerous declarations of secession). But more to the point, there is no requirement to name American Army bases after general officers who attacked that same Army in order to teach the history of the Confederacy.
 
NTWLF ONE said:
Of course Sally Ride was featured predominately.
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So it talked about Sally Ride...
Did it make mention of heavy metal? Suicide? Foreign debts? Homeless vets? AIDS? Crack? Bernie Goetz? Hypodermics on the shore? China under martial law? Rock & roller cola wars?

Man, I can't take it anymore.
 
scoutpilot said:
So it talked about Sally Ride...
Did it make mention of heavy metal? Suicide? Foreign debts? Homeless vets? AIDS? Crack? Bernie Goetz? Hypodermics on the shore? China under martial law? Rock & roller cola wars?

Man, I can't take it anymore.
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I don't know about any of that stuff, I am sure most of it was in there someplace...but I would think Alan Shepard as the first American in space would get some coverage. Then again, I think his contribution to Naval Aviation as the test pilot on the A-4 Skyhawk was more significant then riding an uncontrollable rocket into orbit....
 
NTWLF ONE said:
I don't know about any of that stuff, I am sure most of it was in there someplace...but I would think Alan Shepard as the first American in space would get some coverage. Then again, I think his contribution to Naval Aviation as the test pilot on the A-4 Skyhawk was more significant then riding an uncontrollable rocket into orbit....
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You're killing me, Smalls!
 
scoutpilot said:
It would be a lot more in line with the Army values to say "Look, we named the bases after these old racist white guys because we needed to appeal to southern white men to bolster Army numbers during WWII."
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So the history books according to you should read these are "old racist white guys".

Should these men be called "old racist white guys"?

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S Grant
 
cga82 said:
So the history books according to you should read these are "old racist white guys".

Should these men be called "old racist white guys"?

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S Grant
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Where the founding fathers are concerned, it's a good question. That all depends on whether you excuse their views as par for the times. In an objective sense, yes, they absolutely were racist. They believed in the right of the white to own, as property, African human beings who were viewed as savages unequal to their white masters. So plainly, yes, they were racists. Do you excuse their views within the cultural climate of the late 18th century? That's up to you.

Fast forward to the mid-19th century, after our mother country of England had outlawed chattel slavery, and the U.S. is seizing on the idea that slavery is an abomination against humanity. Southerners seek to preserve the institution for their own financial and economic advantage against northern states. In that cultural climate, where the rest of the civilized world was disavowing the right to own humans as property, do you still excuse their views? That, again, it is up to you.
 
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