I’m one who thinks that being drunk tends to reveals your true self. I don’t know anyone who would do this drunk or sober.
I get that in the context of bantering people may push boundaries, but IMO this is different. And the only way to stop it is to nip it in the bud.
A LOT has changed since the 1970s in the military. What a weird idea, that nothing would change in nearly 50 years.
There are a ton more female service members in it. There are openly gay service members in it. There are transgender service members in it.
Most relevant to this incident, there are far more not-white people, that number has grown since the draft ended and the military went all-volunteer.
Further, this academy is grooming cadets to enter officer training - leaders - not enlisted soldiers who can likely get away with more “jokes”.
What a shame, turns out the racial slurs were written by one of the alleged victims…
Turns out that the cadet wanted to divert attention from his own behavior so he wrote racial slurs against himself and other classmates, at least they booted him out.
@CU123 You’re right; http://gazette.com/air-force-academy-finds-cadet-candidate-responsible-for-racist-messages/article/1614770
It’s too bad, because when people make false reports, then the next time a real incident happens (and we know they will), people are more likely to dismiss it.
Who said that?? Oh, I said that! And got blasted for it.
I expect, nay, DEMAND, some apologies.
It’s been five minutes. Where are my apologies??
“Have you ever been in the locker room of a men’s sports team?”
My husband was on a high school varsity sports team and then in a fraternity in the 1980s. He heard and said plenty of explicit things, but not this, and also nothing about grabbing people by the genitals.
^^A lot more than 5 minutes now.
Some of the posts here are pretty damn pompous, and borderline funny, especially the;
“And to say that the A-A cadets might have done it themselves? That too is deeply offensive.”
Jumping to conclusions when a news story fits a narrative is becoming a national pastime. http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article183086416.html
Occasionally, people in minority groups do this for…various reasons that don’t make any sense to anyone, least of all those of us from the group.
That does not, however, negate the fact that these things do actually happen and are in the VAST majority of cases not perpetrated by the victims themselves. This is the same as trying to redirect attention from sexual assault and rape by claiming “Well, sometimes people falsely report rape!” Sure, sometimes people do, and they should be held responsible for their actions. Just like this cadet should be held responsible for his really, really poor choices.
But I think it’s even more telling that people like to jump straight to that before anything leans one way or the other, or that people like to believe that it doesn’t happen at all, or - even worse - that people jump straight to minimizing racist slurs or sexist jokes as just “locker room talk” or “part of the culture” and people who are hurt by words that are deliberately intended to minimize and discriminate against people as “snowflakes”. That’s like saying if I kick you in the groin and it hurts, you’re a “snowflake,” even though I deliberately did something to hurt you. On purpose.
Why is it that other people’s ability to laugh and joke without guilt is deemed more important than my right to be treated like an equal human being?
Nobody said these things don’t happen. The issue was whether it happened in this case. Something smelled fishy about this story from the start, yet too many people here were primed to accept it without question, and took it as an opportunity to put on a tiresome, “holier-than-thou” act.
“And to say that the A-A cadets might have done it themselves? That too is deeply offensive.” LOL
^This is a very sensitive issue. Yes, people jumped to conclusions (myself included). However, I’m glad the Air Force Academy handled it as it did especially with the climate nowadays.
I don’t think it’s a laughing matter at all.
Despite outside critiques, the military always investigates complaints and that takes time - more time than a news cycle when most expect answers. That is everything from sexual assault to the recent ship collisions. The report on the errors in JOHN S MCCAIN are now published for the public. Individual investigations won’t be published but that doesn’t mean the investigation isn’t thorough.
I think the Air Force handled it correctly. Made it public, made sure everyone knew it was wrong (whatever the source) and made it public again when the truth came out. The message from above is the same no matter the source - it was not acceptable.
The prep school cadets aren’t necessarily picked because they are/were such great leaders. Most of them are athletes who didn’t have the grades to get into the academy directly so take this extra year to bring their grades up.
This is absolutely hilarious.
It’s just like most of these race complaints, far more fake reports than real ones. It’s getting old, ineffective and obfuscates the few real problems that occur, just like complaining about the N word when you use it yourself 5 times a day, and it’s playing all over your playlist.
@roethlisburger-way to be empathetic.
I’m glad we got to learn about Silveria’s exemplary character and I’m also glad that AF cadets didn’t make these threats. Though many in this thread downplayed the significance of the threats (“pranks”), they were serious and needed to be dealt with as such. A thorough investigation has found the offender and that is as it should be.
Having this un-investigated, swept under the rug or excused as “boys will be oys” prank behavior would not have resulted in justice. The cadet has been booted out and that seems appropriate to me. It’s what I would expect no matter the motivation for the threats.
Unfortunately, this incident will be - and has already been - used to cast doubt on the validity of future racist threats.
I hope that a strong and thorough investigation of every threat in the future is also the result of this finding.