A graduation memory is described as unclear due to drinking, leading to an annual habit of reading commencement addresses for renewed hope. A West Point commencement speech delivered over Memorial Day weekend is presented as lacking wonder or hope. The speech is characterized as offensive toward Black cadets, Latina officers, gay people, and trans people, with an implied message that marginalized individuals do not belong even if they excel. Asian Americans and children of immigrants are also portrayed as excluded. The speech’s claim that “Diversity is not our strength” and “Unity is our strength” is criticized, with unity framed as arising from diverse backgrounds working toward a common good. Treating diversity as a curse is said to invite disunity.
"It was abjectly offensive to any Black cadet, Latina officer, gay man or woman in the audience. Not to mention trans people. If you were among the ethnicities and backgrounds Hegseth marginalized, then even if you outscored half your class on every physical fitness test, leadership evaluation, and tactical exercise, you still don't belong."
"If you are Asian American, or the child of immigrants who believed in this country so deeply they sent you here, apparently you wasted your time, because there is no room for you in Hegseth's narrow-minded and exclusionary military. Oh, and if you are "," you also are a blight to the military in Hegseth's evil eye."
"His speech was not only an affront to the cadets forced to sit there and listen to his garbage, but it was also an offense to what makes the United States so great: its melting pot and diversity. "Diversity is not our strength," Hegseth sinisterly declared. "Unity is our strength.""
"What pithy Pete doesn't realize is that unity comes from a collective of backgrounds forging ahead for the common good. The moment you start treating diversity as a curse, you invite disunity. And you don't have to be from a marginalized community to understand the implications of what Hegseth said."
#commencement-speeches #military-inclusion #diversity-and-unity #lgbtq-rights #racial-and-ethnic-discrimination
Read at Advocate.com
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