To the Editor:

Martin, as you plan to respond to Mr. Gradias next week, I will make this brief. Since you had no objection to what I said about Trump’s legal morass, I’ll just focus on General Charles Q. Brown who was confirmed (83-11) as Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to replace General Mark Milley, and was interviewed about his personal experiences with racism before his confirmation.

May I suggest that next time, when you refer to a subject which is presented in a publication like STARRS which exists solely to protest “Woke” in the armed services, you read more than the skewed headline and perhaps even the actual document in question? Otherwise, it can lead a “careless reader” to assume that the General stated that there are “too many white officers in the US Armed Forces.” Once again, the General did not say that.
Instead, Senator Eric Schmidt (R-MO), in questioning the General, said it. “Good morning, General. Do we have too many white officers in the Air Force? In your August 9 memo, you said–that you signed on to– that there should be a reduction essentially, of about 9% of the white officers, that’s we have too many white officers.”
General Brown: “Senator, the memorandum updates Air Force and Space officer application pool goals…reflected U.S. demographics.” He said that he was not advocating for racial quotas in the military. Having them, he said, is against Pentagon policy. The general added that he would not have signed the memo if it did not also make clear that the military’s merit-based personnel system remains firmly in place. If you read the memo itself, Martin, you will discover his actual statements.

He expressed his concern that young African Americans and women, across the board, “might self-eliminate just because we don’t think we’re qualified.” Air Force and Space officer applications are currently comprised of 67.5% White and 13% Black candidates.

I know you are deeply attached to your Armageddon scenarios, Martin, but the world is challenging enough without concocting them.

Kelly Scoles,

Fillmore, Ca