A social media photo of West Point cadets raising their fists in defiance is stirring controversy among West Point alumni.
The photo shows 16 black female cadets dressed in their West Point uniforms raising their fists in a black power salute on the steps of their barracks.
The black power salute was popularized by the now-defunct Black Panthers civil rights group.
West Point officials have launched an investigation. Apparently, unauthorized protests are discouraged on the campus. It wasn’t that long ago that women were banned from admission to the last bastion of white male privilege.
The NY Daily News notes that “several offended readers sent the photo to the Army Times on Wednesday, upset that the women violated the policies.”
“We can confirm that the cadets in this photo are members of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2016,” Lt. Christopher Kasker, a spokesman for West Point, told the Daily News in a statement. “Academy officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter.”
John Burk, a former soldier turned motivational coach and fitness guru, posted the image on Facebook where it went viral. He accused the 16 females of aligning themselves with the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
A few seniors have anonymously are defending their actions on the Yik Yak blog.
“It’s a really touchy subject here. We can get kicked out of West Point, or forced to repeat years for what is called a ‘respect board,’” the anonymous source told the blogger. “They can be given just for making someone upset, so no one wants to get kicked out of college and lose their commission over something like this.”
UPDATE: Loyal reader GIJoeJones, who says he is a West Point graduate, shared his insightful thoughts on the controversy:
I am a West Point grad from ’00 who frequents this site and I will say that this isn’t looked on favorably because it will be seen as confrontational and or divisive in an environment where so many efforts have been made to accommodate black cadets. They go out of their way to get black students admitted to West Point, and then they really protect us while we are there. I was a new cadet 20 years ago and I can tell you that racism was crushed whenever it reared its head.
The main problem is that this is a political statement, a strong one at that, and one that raises the question are you being mistreated at West Point? If you are, what’s going on? If not, why did you take this picture at West Point in uniform with other cadets.
The second issue is that it appears to put their race and identity out front, in an organization where we are taught to see beyond that and form meaningful friendships across racial lines.
It’s just going to rub a lot of people the wrong way.
