While Donald Trump continues to stay quiet about the racial injustice in the United States, military generals are fed up and are speaking out for their black service members.
CNN reported this week that several military members of different ranks have taken it upon themselves to fight for racial justice.
According to the report, four-star Gen. Robert Abrams held a town hall last Sunday with black service members on the subject of race that was then broadcast on Facebook to thousands.
Abrams made it a point to have everyone attending the event wear civilian clothes — an important symbol to lessen signs of military rank. Abrams told the audience “we’re going to develop an action plan with real meat on the bones to get after this. We are not going to put up with this one second longer this time.”
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Abrams, who is white, spoke in deeply personal terms. “From my time of service, I’ve tried real hard to be part of the solution, and it was really difficult for me to come to grasp this week that I have fallen way short in helping eliminate racism and bigotry in our own ranks.”
But Abrams isn’t the only one fighting for racial justice.
One general told CNN that a few days ago a young black service member on his staff told him, “I don’t feel like anybody ever really sees me,” when moving around the Pentagon’s corridors.
The general’s reaction? “We have to start listening to what people are saying,” he told CNN, describing the conversation.
Other senior military officials joined in.
According to CNN, “Sgt. Maj. Michael A. Grinston, posted a video on Twitter about the difficulties he has faced as a biracial American. Grinston spoke candidly about an occasion when he was told he couldn’t mark himself as black on a form and there was no option to describe his mixed-race identity.”
Air Force Gen. Charles Brown posted a video about his experience as a four-star general and a black man, in which he said he was “full with emotion” for “the many African Americans that have suffered the same fate as George Floyd.”
He added, “I’m thinking about a history of racial issues and my own experiences that didn’t always sing of liberty.”
“I’m thinking about wearing the same flight suit with the same wings on my chest as my peers and then being questioned by another military member: ‘Are you a pilot?'” he said.
The Air Force’s inspector general also joined in by launching an investigation into the service’s history on military discipline and career opportunities for black service members.
You can read the full report HERE.
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