Air Force professor who taught critical race theory should be fired, GOP rep says

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Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., called this week for U.S. Air Force Academy professor Lynne Chandler Garcia to be fired after she publicly advocated for military academies to teach critical race theory to incoming cadets.

In a letter to acting Air Force Secretary John Roth, Green, a West Point graduate, argued Garcia’s stance on critical race theory in a recent Washington Post op-ed "render[ed] her unqualified to teach in one of our prestigious military academies." Garcia is an associate professor of political science at the Air Force Academy.

"Critical Race Theory teaches that the only way to right past racial discrimination is with present racial discrimination," Green wrote in the letter. "This teaching is utterly incompatible with the principles in the Declaration of Independence and the Civil Rights Movement—not to mention illegal.

"Our country already lived through a horrific era when people were judged by the color of their skin rather than by the content of their character—we must never go back to this way of thinking," he added.

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Green issued his call for Garcia’s dismissal amid a broader clash between GOP lawmakers and military leadership about critical race theory. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended its study during a tense House Armed Services Committee hearing last month, arguing it was important for military cadets and officers "to be open-minded and be widely read" about concepts across the ideological spectrum.

Milley’s fiery response during the hearing served as the basis for Garcia’s column. 

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"As a professor of political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy, I teach critical race theories to our nation’s future military leaders because it is vital that cadets understand the history of the racism that has shaped both foreign and domestic policy," Garcia wrote.

Air Force and Air Force Academy officials did not immediately return requests for comment on Green’s call for Garcia’s dismissal.

In May, Green introduced a bill seeking to block the teaching of critical race theory at military academies.