US Navy chief takes woke books off the reading list

Several books on the U.S. Navy’s Professional Reading Program that provoked outrage last year were absent in an updated reading list released Friday. 

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday’s updated list includes 12 books in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, military, strategy, management, and technology. 

Missing from the list were the titles Ibram X. Kendi’s "How to Be an Antiracist," Michelle Alexander’s "The New Jim Crow" and Jason Pierceson’s "Sexual Minorities and Politics" – all of which were included on the Navy’s 2021 reading list. 

Several Republican members of Congress had raised concerns about these titles being included, with one telling Gilday in a letter that the views expressed in "How to Be an Antiracist" were "explicitly anti-American." 

Gilday responded at the time that the Kendi’s book was included because "it evokes the author’s own personal journal in understanding barriers to true inclusion, the deep nuances of racism and racial inequalities." 

NAVY HELICOPTER THAT KILLED 5 CAUSED BY MECHANICAL FAILURE, NOT PILOT ERROR

Gilday said the goal of the program is to foster the continued education and growth – both personal and professional – of sailors. 

"We are driving a fleet-wide campaign of self-improvement," Gilday said in a statement published Friday. "We must foster an organization that supports and empowers Sailors to have an independent quest for knowledge through reading and information sharing. What you know and how fast you learn is relevant in this era of strategic competition." 

Friday’s updated reading list includes the following titles: 

• "To Rule the Waves" by Bruce Jones
• "A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy" by James Holmes
• "China as a 21st Century Naval Power" by Michael. A. McDevitt
• "Not One Inch" by Mary E. Sarotte
• "The Sailor’s Bookshelf: Fifty Books to Know the Sea" by Admiral James G. Stavridis
• "Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War" by Paul Scharre
• "Fortune Favors Boldness" by Barry Costello
• "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour" by James Hornfischer
• "World War II at Sea: A Global History" by Craig Symonds
• "Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield" by Gayle T. Lemmon
• "Dare to Lead" by Brene Brown
• "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" by Carol Dweck

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News has reached out to the Navy for comment on the updated reading list but did not hear back before publication time. 

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this story.