Commentary
In the bustle of the Christmas season, three events likely escaped attention.
The first was the U.S. Military Academy’s (West Point) decision to remove a portrait and bust of Gen. Robert E. Lee, a superintendent of West Point before the Civil War. West Point made the decision based on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s implementation of a Congressional commission’s, the Naming Commission, recommendations. Left in place were honored positions for Gen. U.S. Grant.
The second was the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington that the U.S. Marine Corps’ requirement that men be clean-shaven and have short hair did not promote diversity and inclusion in the Defense Department, in contrast to the stated goals of the department. The ruling means that two Sikh men may immediately begin training as they were excluded due to the length of their hair and beards. Sikh men are forbidden from shaving their facial hair or cutting the hair on their heads. In her opinion, D.C. Circuit Court Judge Patricia Millett wrote that there was no compelling interest for the government in denying the Sikh’s request as policies on tattoos and beards have been loosened for medical reasons, for example, razor bumps….