The military’s judicial system has no explicit category for hate crimes, making it difficult to quantify crimes motivated by prejudice.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Stephanie Davis holds a U.S. flag in the cargo area of a KC-135 airplane while flying over Pakistan/Afghanistan. For Davis, who grew up poor, the military was a path to the American dream, a realm where everyone would receive equal treatment. But many of her service colleagues, Davis says, saw her only as a Black woman.
In interviews with The Associated Press, current and former enlistees and officers in nearly every branch of the armed services described a deep-rooted culture of racism and discrimination that stubbornly festers, despite repeated efforts to eradicate it. And racial discrimination doesn’t exist just within the military rank-and-file. Every year, civilians working in the financial, technical and support sectors of the Army, Air Force and Navy file hundreds of complaints alleging race and skin color discrimination, according to an AP analysis of U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data.
In a statement to the AP, the Defense Department said extremism is not “widespread” in the armed forces, but acknowledged that “efforts to stamp out extremist views from the rank-and-file have historically been reactive versus proactive until recently.” Pentagon spokesman Maj. César Santiago pointed to Austin’s stand-down order in February that stressed the oath of office taken by military personnel, including a “commitment to protecting our nation from enemies foreign and domestic.
Austin pledged to rid the ranks of “racists and extremists” during his confirmation hearing before Congress, which came on the heels of the Capitol insurrection. Several Black officers interviewed by the AP said the culture must give way if they are ever to flourish. Other service members of color detailed incidents in which they said they were discouraged by superiors from openly embracing their cultures. Some said they were told to avoid speaking languages other than English to not offend their mostly white colleagues.