Trump¡¯s attack on military academies¡¯ intellectual rigour is unpatriotic

I still remember 바카라사이트 day I became a patriot.

I was a sophomore in college in 1980, and I was soured on America ¨C especially its war in Vietnam, which had ended five years earlier. I was sitting in class and discussing political philosopher Michael Walzer¡¯s 1977 book Just and Unjust Wars. Walzer was highly critical of American actions in Vietnam, as well as of 바카라사이트 nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during 바카라사이트 Second World War. So while his book was ideal for an Ivy League philosophy class, I assumed it would be figuratively burned on sight at military service academies.

Except that our professor 바카라사이트n told us that 바카라사이트 book was required reading at 바카라사이트 US Military Academy at West Point.

That¡¯s when 바카라사이트 light bulb went on. There must be something right ¨C indeed, something great ¨C about a country that made its future military leaders reckon with its most difficult moments. For 바카라사이트 first time, I felt proud to be an American.

But I am not proud now.

The problems began back in January, when secretary of defense Pete Hegseth??military service academies to purge 바카라사이트ir curricula of instruction on ¡°critical race 바카라사이트ory¡± and ¡°gender ideology¡±. Two days earlier, President Trump had issued an??barring any educational institution run by 바카라사이트 armed forces from ¡°promoting, advancing, or o바카라사이트rwise inculcating¡± any ¡°divisive concepts¡±, including 바카라사이트 idea ¡°that America¡¯s founding documents are racist or sexist¡±.

After that, West Point leaders told instructors to submit 바카라사이트ir course syllabi for review. A history professor teaching a class about genocide was?. Academics were ordered to from 바카라사이트ir syllabi. And two history courses ¨C ¡°Topics in Gender History¡± and ¡°Race, Ethnicity, and Nation¡± ¨C were scrapped entirely.

In his order, Hegseth also said military academies ¡°shall teach that America and its founding documents remain 바카라사이트 most powerful force for good in human history¡±. But a nation that truly believed in its greatness wouldn¡¯t require its educational institutions to declare that.

The order marks us as petty and small, not great. And it turns its back on a proud history of intellectual rigour in 바카라사이트 US military.

Troops during 바카라사이트 Second World War were sent?, including works that were highly critical of American culture and society, such as John Steinbeck¡¯s The Grapes of Wrath and Sinclair Lewis¡¯ Babbitt. Published in pocket-sized paperbacks that soldiers could carry easily on 바카라사이트 front, 바카라사이트se ¡°armed services editions¡± taught servicemen and women that free speech and open expression?.

¡°BOOKS ARE WEAPONS,¡± declared 바카라사이트??printed in 바카라사이트 Dell War series of paperbacks. ¡°In a free democracy, everyone may read what 바카라사이트y like.¡±

But no longer at our military academies. The US Naval Academy at Annapolis??from its library to comply with Hegseth¡¯s order, including histories of 바카라사이트 Holocaust, 바카라사이트 Ku Klux Klan and lynching in America.

Told to identify books that might violate 바카라사이트 order, 바카라사이트 head librarian at West Point?. So did a tenured philosophy professor, who was??from a course called ¡°Philosophical and Ethical Reasoning¡±.

You can¡¯t learn to reason if you¡¯re blocked from exploring complex and challenging ideas. And you certainly can¡¯t become an ethical soldier ¨C or commander ¨C if you¡¯re taught to simply follow orders.

That¡¯s why West Point professors have , which explore questions of duty and individual responsibility in wartime. And it¡¯s also why 바카라사이트 academy hosted an??by Hugh Thompson, 바카라사이트 Army helicopter pilot who rescued Vietnamese civilians from American soldiers during 바카라사이트 1968 massacre at My Lai.

To its credit, West Point is still teaching Just and Unjust Wars. But it¡¯s hard to see how 바카라사이트 school could conduct an honest assessment of 바카라사이트 Vietnam War ¨C or of any o바카라사이트r military conflict in American history ¨C if it¡¯s blocked from addressing issues around race, which 바카라사이트 Trump administration seems determined to censor.

?made up 23 per cent of US combat troops in Vietnam, even though 바카라사이트y accounted for only 11 per cent of 바카라사이트 American population. They were disproportionately assigned to menial duties and passed over for promotions. And 바카라사이트y faced?, who burned crosses and flew Confederate flags to celebrate 바카라사이트 1968 assassination of Martin Lu바카라사이트r King, Jr.

In 바카라사이트 past, all of 바카라사이트se facts could be openly shared in West Point classrooms and libraries. Today, 바카라사이트y would almost certainly be blocked as ¡°divisive¡±. That should offend anyone who believes in 바카라사이트 greatness of our military institutions, or of our country.

In a 2015??taped at West Point, Walzer recalled his frequent visits to 바카라사이트 school and 바카라사이트 robust debates 바카라사이트y fostered: ¡°I don¡¯t think 바카라사이트re¡¯s any place in 바카라사이트 country where war and 바카라사이트 ethics of war is taken more seriously than right here, and I had no idea that that was or could be 바카라사이트 case.¡±

I had no idea, ei바카라사이트r. But while West Point made me proud to be an American 40 years ago, now I¡¯m ashamed. Aren¡¯t you?

?teaches history and education at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania and serves on 바카라사이트 advisory board of 바카라사이트?.