Black West Point cadets will not be punished for raised-fists photo

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Black West Point cadets will not be punished for raised-fists photo

Associated Press
Wednesday 11 May 2016 01.08 BST

Sixteen black West Point cadets who posed with raised fists for a pre-graduation picture will not be punished for the gesture.

The US Military Academy said on Tuesday it concluded the group photo did not violate any Department of Defense rules limiting political activity.

West Point said in a statement an internal inquiry found the picture of the 16 female cadets captured a spur-of-the-moment gesture intended to demonstrate unity and pride.

The seniors will graduate on 21 May.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/10/black-west-point-cadets-raised-fist-photo-no-punishment

[brer cat]

1. As it should be.

The ones who were wrong were the haters who made a stink about this.

[Kelvin Mace]

2. I would damn well hope not.

[Recursion]

21. +1 (nt)

[Journeyman]

3. Did anyone seriously believe the military was going to trash 64 years of Academy training because...

a group of young women got caught in the exuberance of a moment and did something potentially foolish?

The PR hit alone would have been devastating, let alone the loss of 16 quality officers.

Gotta look at life with a little realism and, if nothing else, appreciation for "the money."

[Number23]

4. What was "potentially foolish" about what they did??

[Journeyman]

5. There was an investigation, was there not, to see if they had violated military protocol? . . .

Seems a "potentially foolish" act, to have engaged in behavior the Academy felt called upon to investigate, would you not agree?

[JI7]

6. as foolish as a black man driving a car

[Journeyman]

7. Non sequitur. We're talking about officers in a United States military academy . . .

totally different rules govern their lives than are at play in your's and mine.

[JI7]

8. my point is they only went after them for being black

just like black men are pulled over just for driving while being black

[Haveadream]

16. They went after them for doing exactly the same thing white cadets have been doing since forever

The only potential "foolishness" is underestimating the blowback from racism. The driving a car while black analogy is exactly right.

[sheshe2]

11. There never should have been an investigation in the first place.

Race and gender were a factor here. BLM was a factor here.

FYI, you are posting in the African American Group.

[uponit7771]

13. +1

[LanternWaste]

17. Your premise seems to predicated on the supposition that anything resulting in an investigation...

No. I would not agree. Your premise seems to predicated on the supposition that anything resulting in an investigation is potentially foolish which, without supporting evidence, seems an absolutely foolish thing to allege in and of itself.

[sheshe2]

9. It was foolish!?

I posted this here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/118750802

One of the comments to my post!

Kind of Blue (6,676 posts)

23. Oh no, it's never done at West Point!



West Point cadets dance to music and cheer on the men's basketball team as they take the court against the U.S. Naval Academy in Christl Arena at the US ...






More http://www.democraticunderground.com/118750802#post23

a group of young women got caught in the exuberance of a moment and did something potentially foolish?

Exuberance is foolish now? These woman just went through a rigorous training and excelled. They passed and are graduating. Why do you mock them? Celebrating has been done for years at West Point, as you can see from the photos above. Do you only have an issue with black women raising their fist?

[Journeyman]

10. Yes, and I had my comment in this thread . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141441649#post9

And now you've misread my comment here and, for some reason, see that I "only have an issue with black women raising their fist" when there was no such comment made. You claim that I "mock them," with no evidence of such belief, and you take this claim from a post that believed quite the opposite, that the women did nothing that warranted the punishment so many felt they should receive.

I'll just leave this where we are, a simple misunderstanding with no ill intent on my part.

[sheshe2]

12. You called them foolish. nt

[uponit7771]

14. You don't see how overtly biased you sound? It was foolish for them but not for the 1234123 white

... cadets who've done something similar?

They did nothing that warranted the investigation and you've not pointed out what they did do relative to their peers that did warrant and investigation

tia

[Actor]

15. Eventually you will need to accept the simple fact that black Americans live under

an entirely different set of rules than white Americans.

The point of this thread and discussion isnt necessarily to say that what they did was not out of line per se for the military, probably was, given their strict rules and what not, the point is others are out of line ALL the time and are not investigated.

White Americans have no clue, none, what life is for black America. But often you will find white Americans talking as if they do.

[heaven05]

18. anything

that shows unity with current cultural affairs, BLM et al., scares the living shit out of the ones who prefer to think that all POC are addicts that are killing themselves and others and trapped in an inner city of despair and degredation..

These 16 officers of the United States Army cannot, no matter their accomplishment(s), be seen by the racists as just officers of the United States Army but will always be considered by their color first instead of character and ability as ALL white officers are. An american white racist can never understand that they are the hypocrites and fools that perpetuate an alleged superiority that is a problem that has been, historically, diminished and proven utterly false by the achievements of african-Americans in this country against all odds.

Tommy Smith and Juan Carlos gold and bronze medalist respectively, in the 68 Olympics, shocked the then racists of the world and USA into spasms of revulsion over the politicizing of a human rights problem that continues unabated 48 years later, racism in America. I'm not saying these officers were stating their unity with all who have been murdered in the streets and jail cells in the last say 7+ years, but I hope so because that would mean to me that they will not be robots who have no awareness of the culture that they one day may die for while defending it against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I'm very proud of these new officers that will have my back.

[Recursion]

20. Here's the weird thing, about the military

Recruits are much, much whiter than the country. Like 50% whiter.

Why?

Because the military makes it very, very difficult to enlist if you've had run-ins with the law. Like, absurdly so. This was even true during the worst days of Iraq.

Guess what! People of color have many, many more run-ins with the law than white people do, on average.

But here's the really, really weird (but not weird) thing that this Marine can't help pointing out:

The Non-Commissioned-Officer corps?

Five times as black as the national average.

I'm not kidding. Five times as black.

African-Americans get completely fucked over in the enlistment stage, and still manage to dominate the most important leadership level.

[Recursion]

19. I knew command would drop this like it was hot

This complaint was a sad lonely middle aged white dude with an axe to grind. Now, Mr. Cletus, the women who defend your freedom, that you just attacked, have to get back to defending your sad ass. Good day, sir.



Ladies, welcome to the Officer Corps. You've just made your last correct decision. (You'll understand that joke in about six months...)