Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pushed back on Wednesday against suggestions from a Republican congressman that the military was becoming too \u201cwoke,\u201d calling such accusations \u201coffensive\u201d and alluding directly to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in which some veterans and active-duty members participated.<\/p>\n
Mr. Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III were testifying before the House Armed Services Committee when they were questioned about anti-extremism efforts and curriculums about race relations at service academies and beyond.<\/p>\n
Representative Michael Waltz, Republican of Florida, asked about the teaching of \u201ccritical race theory\u201d at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and specifically a seminar called \u201cUnderstanding Whiteness and White Rage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis came to me from cadets, from families, from soldiers with their alarm and their concern about how divisive this type of teaching is that is rooted in Marxism,\u201d Mr. Waltz said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Austin, who is the nation\u2019s first Black defense secretary, suggested that the teaching of literature concerning white rage, as Mr. Waltz had described it, \u201ccertainly sounds like something that should not occur.\u201d<\/p>\n
But General Milley, who is white, defended both the seminar and the broader practice of teaching service members controversial or uncomfortable ideas. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to understand white rage, and I\u2019m white,\u201d General Milley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America?\u201d he continued, as Mr. Austin looked on. \u201cWhat is wrong with having some situational understanding about the country we are here to defend?\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting that his having read writers like Karl Marx did not make him a communist, General Milley went on a long, impromptu disquisition on the history of racism in the military and the need for cadets and service members alike to study it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do want to know,\u201d he said. \u201cIt matters to our military and the discipline and cohesion of this military.\u201d<\/p>\n