Senators peppered Austin with questions about extremism in the ranks and his plans to deal with it. Trump rejected renaming the bases and defended flying the flag. It took months for the department to effectively ban the Confederate flag last year, and Pentagon officials left to Congress the matter of renaming military bases that honor Confederate leaders. Over the past year, Pentagon leaders have struggled to make changes, hampered by opposition from then-President Donald Trump. population overall is about three-quarters white and 13% Black, according to Census Bureau statistics. While leaders insist only a small minority hold extremist views, there have been persistent incidents of racial hatred and, more subtly, a history of implicit bias in what is a predominantly white institution.Ī recent Air Force inspector general report found that Black service members in the Air Force are far more likely to be investigated, arrested, face disciplinary actions and be discharged for misconduct.īased on 2018 data, roughly two-thirds of the military’s enlisted corps is white and about 17% is Black, but the minority percentage declines as rank increases. Racism has long been an undercurrent in the military. We just didn’t know what to look for or what to pay attention to.”Īustin is not the first secretary to grapple with the problem. But we discovered that the signs for that activity were there all along. “And they did bad things that we certainly held them accountable for. “We woke up one day and discovered that we had extremist elements in our ranks,” Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. They included 17 who were considered white supremacists or separatists. The killing triggered an internal investigation, and all told, 22 soldiers were linked to skinhead and other similar groups or found to hold extremist views. Investigators concluded the two were targeted because of their race. Austin was serving with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, three white soldiers, described as self-styled skinheads, were arrested in the murder of a Black couple who was walking down the street. At Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, he explained why. Austin, who was confirmed in a 93-2 vote, has made clear that accelerating delivery of coronavirus vaccines will get his early attention.īut the racism issue is personal. Ridding the military of racists isn’t his only priority.
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