As the Trump administration seeks to purge the U.S. military of trans people for no other reason than how they identify, one can only wonder if it has the same energy for purging the military of racists and bigots. (Spoiler alert: they don’t have that same energy and no one who pays attention would expect them to.
Two Navy SEALs based in Virginia are currently facing disciplinary action for creating and circulating racist memes that targeted a Black sailor in their platoon. According to the Associated Press, the memes depicted the Black sailor as an enslaved person. A military official who spoke to AP under the condition of anonymity said the targeted sailor reported the racist memes earlier this year, but they began circulating in 2022. Along with the two Navy SEALs, several of their platoon and team leaders are facing disciplinary action for, among other things, leadership failures. In fact, the sailor was previously one of the SEAL Team 4 platoons, but his qualifications and SEAL trident were revoked last year, which he says only happened due to racism, which might be true, and also might be the reason his military credentials are set to be reinstated.
From AP:
Two officials said that as a result of the investigation, which was conducted by Naval Special Warfare Group 2, the sailor’s SEAL qualifications are being reinstated and he will get back pay. The group oversees SEAL Team 4 and the platoons that make up the team, located at Joint Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The probe found that the platoon and SEAL Team 4 leaders did not adequately address the sailor’s concerns about racist behavior and that the decision to revoke his qualifications was flawed.
“This was a very shocking case of explicit and repeated racist memes directed at our client in a platoon-wide text thread,” said Timothy Parlatore, the sailor’s lawyer, referring to the memes shared over a Signal chat. “They modified his face in photos to look like a monkey and portrayed him as a chained slave on a slave ship, among others.”
So, was the revocation of the sailor’s SEAL status retaliation for him complaining about racism in the first place? Well, that isn’t clear, but the two racist sailors are facing non-judicial punishment and punitive letters in their files, which AP notes “can be career ending, or can result in demotions or loss of pay.” The platoon and team leaders will also reportedly receive letters in their files, among other disciplinary actions.
Naval Special Warfare Command confirmed that there is still an active investigation into “serious allegations of unprofessional conduct within one of our commands” and said “accountability actions are ongoing.”
“We are dedicated to fostering a climate of dignity and respect, and after conducting a thorough and fair investigation, we will hold anyone found responsible of misconduct accountable,” NSWC said in a statement.
This is as good a time as any to remind folks that Pete Hegseth — the Trump administration’s woefully underqualified ex-Fox News host who serves as the nation’s secretary of defense despite his apparent inability to keep confidential war plans out of public eye — has made it his mission to rid the military of all things diversity, equity and inclusion. Of course, one shouldn’t hold their breath hoping stories like this one will give him a change of heart.
More from AP:
As of March 2021, a full 95% of all SEAL and combatant-craft crew officers were white and just 2% were Black, according to Naval Special Warfare statistics provided to the AP. The enlisted ranks were only slightly more diverse.
Those number are starkly different from the overall Navy population, where about 40% of the enlisted force and 24% of its officers are non-white.
According to the defense official, the sailor filed more than a dozen specific complaints about racist behavior and about half were substantiated.
So, you know, maybe less diversity simply is not the answer.
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Navy SEALs And Platoon Leadership Faces Disciplinary Action Over Racist Memes Targeting Black Sailor
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