Air Force Colonel, Selected for Promotion to Brigadier General, Pushes DEI, CRT, and Racist Dogma

Air Force Colonel, Selected for Promotion to Brigadier General, Pushes DEI, CRT, and Racist Dogma

We have reported at length on Army General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his replacement-in-waiting, Air Force General Charles Q. “C.Q.” Brown, who both seem to have a penchant for all things “woke”:

• Disturbing Reports From US Troops and ROTC Cadets of “Woke” Military Priorities
• Ideological Capture: When Top Military Leaders Adopt Critical Race Theory Verbiage
• Pentagon Burdens Warfighting Commanders with New Transgender Policies for Military Personnel
• Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley’s Replacement Even More Woke, If That is Possible

Now, from the Daily Signal, comes a disturbing report about an Air Force Colonel who seems to believe it is his place to lecture his fellow colonels about how racist they are: Air Force Colonel in Line for Promotion Preaches DEI Agenda, Endorses CRT Book

In the weeks following George Floyd’s death in 2020, a U.S. Air Force officer…accused his fellow “white colonels” of being the “biggest barriers” to addressing “racial injustice” in the military and being “blind to institutional racism.”

Col. Ben Jonsson’s 825-word commentary in the Air Force Times on July 1, 2020, recounts several examples of what he describes as “white defensiveness” in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. Jonsson concludes with an endorsement of critical race theory promoter Robin DiAngelo’s controversial book, “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.”

“Dear white colonel, it is time to give a damn. Aim High,” Jonsson wrote.

After this thorough demonization of “white colonels,” sure to engender fissures in an already race-imbued military culture, and his embrace of divisive, now-greatly discredited CRT-based propaganda, you would think he would be next in line to be invited to retire after 20+ years of mostly honorable service.

But you would be wrong, as President Biden has nominated Johnsson for promotion to Brigadier (One-Star) General:

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden nominated Jonsson for a promotion. He’s currently one of more than 300 military officers awaiting U.S. Senate approval. Senate Democrats would like to rubber-stamp the promotions—including Jonsson’s—using an expedited Senate procedure known as unanimous consent, which bypasses consideration of each nominee individually.

Since March, however, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has objected to numerous unanimous content requests from Democrats, preferring the Senate instead consider the promotions individually until the Defense Department rescinds its divisive taxpayer-funded abortion policy.

The Biden Administration’s liberal and woke policies are the real threat to military readiness.

I’m trying to keep politics out of the military.https://t.co/Ylvvrw9f8v

— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) August 12, 2023

As an aside, note that Senator Tuberville is NOT holding up military promotions, he is simply forcing the Senate to have a roll-call, on-the-record-for each-senator vote for each military nominee – something they should be doing anyway in my view. But the Democrat-controlled Senate can’t possibly bring itself to do that….

The Daily Signal continued:

Thanks to Tuberville’s hold, Jonsson’s promotion to Air Force brigadier general is receiving additional scrutiny. He is one of several military officers in line for a promotion who have espoused “woke” views that more closely align with the Left’s diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda than traditional American values.

“Col. Jonsson exhibited a toxic embrace of DEI policies that have no place in the U.S. military,” said William Thibeau, director of the Claremont Institute’s American Military Project. “His public characterization of ‘white colonels’’ blindness is inherently divisive and sends shockwaves through his command. When Jonsson addresses a group of airmen by race, he creates the exact boogeyman of racial tension he supposedly seeks to eliminate.”

This additional scrutiny has led to others taking note as well:

🚨🧵 After the death of George Floyd in 2020, Air Force Col. Ben Jonsson accused his fellow “white colonels” of being the “biggest barriers” to addressing “racial injustice” in the military.

Today, he’s in line for a promotion to brigadier general. https://t.co/uTyPjVHQV1

— Rob Bluey (@RobertBluey) August 17, 2023

Air Force Col. Ben Jonsson is a proponent of DEI, wokeness, concepts of institutional and systemic racism, and preaching down to"white colonels". I truly hope he is never promoted to Brigadier General. He exemplifies the problems in our military. https://t.co/vMs9FCiwAW

— Concerned Vet (@Dpirinku) August 18, 2023

@SenTuberville whatever you do don't give up blocking the Biden administration nominations. We don't know how many of them are woke communist. They will destroy our country. Read an article about Ben Jonsson who believes the biggest problem is his fellow race. That's racism…

— Travis (@Tripeinstein273) August 18, 2023

I, for one, can’t get out of my mind an image from a protest I drove past after the death of George Floyd in Westerly, Rhode Island, in which an elderly man held a sign saying “BLACK LIVES MATTER” with an absolute scowl on his face. His air of smug moral superiority has stuck with me and periodically reminds me that those who embrace racist, DEI/CRT-based lies and propaganda really do hate you and anyone else who doesn’t tow the leftist line.

It breaks my heart that such people not only inhabit the military, but are being promoted to higher and higher positions of authority.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.