Thread by @commondefense

New from @ProPublica, some of the most violent and extreme white supremacist hate groups include active duty military troops, and actively recruit veterans. /1
propublica.org/article/atomwa…

Reminder, when @MilitaryTimes did a scientific poll of troops, 1-in-4 said they know a white nationalist serving alongside them in uniform, and 1-in-20 openly responded to the poll with white supremacist statements. 2/

The situation has only gotten worse under Trump, as hate and white nationalist sentiment has come out in the open in many units. We hear constantly from people of color and women who are choosing to leave the military because they are afraid, and commanders do nothing. /3

The military senior leadership treats this problem like it’s insignificant, “a few bad apples.” But hate and extremist radicalization is a slope, and open tolerance of lesser manifestations of hate creates the environment that leads to Nazis at Charlottesville. /4

When columnists at major military academic institutions build a career writing about the evils of the “diversity-industrial complex,” it leads directly to a climate that tolerates hate and extremism. /5

When rape and sex crimes are treated like a joke, and misogyny is rampant and treated like an individual issue instead of a cultural one, and perpetuated by the most senior military leaders, and when scandal after scandal is revealed and no one cares, it leads to hate. /6

When Black Women cadets at West Point pose for a photo together and are subjected to a torrent of abuse, active duty officers writing hot takes calling them racists for collectively celebrating their achievement despite the odds, and no one bats an eye, it leads to hate. /7

When Trump bans Transgender people and Immigrants from serving in the military, and old white men senior military leaders decide they are too important to die on that hill, because those troops lives matter less, it leads to hate. /8

When Women, people of color, immigrants, and LGBT people are driven out of the military, all while the military is struggling to meet it’s recruitment goals, who do you think replaces them?

White nationalists.

So much of “Military culture” is toxic and openly racist. The slurs for foreigners, the glorification of Crusaders, the Wehrmacht, Spartans, and racist regimes like Rhodesia. Commanders do nothing to challenge that, they wait until someone commits extremist “acts.”

[Shouts from the rooftops] Dozens of US military bases are named after Confederate Generals. They were traitors to the United States who killed US troops. The only reason they are celebrated is white supremacy.