Black Air Force Academy Cadet Admits that Racist Incident was a Hoax

Kerry Lear

9 years ago

This week, one of the black cadets at the Air Force Academy Preparatory School&nbsp&semi;in Colorado Springs admitted that he was the one responsible for a recent racist incident that went viral&period;&NewLine;He had previously claimed to be a victim when he actually was the one responsible for writing the hateful and racist messages on the dormitory boards of five black cadets&period; The messages were discovered in September&period;&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;The incident influenced Lt&period; Gen&period; Jay Silveria&nbsp&semi;to give a passionate speech where he said bigoted cadets are not welcome at the Preparatory School&period; The video of the speech has over 1 million views&period;&NewLine;&ldquo&semi;If you can&rsquo&semi;t treat someone with dignity and respect, then you need to get out&period; If you demean someone in any way, then you need to get out&period; And if you can&rsquo&semi;t treat someone from another race or a different color skin with dignity and respect, then you need to get out,&rdquo&semi; said Silveria in the speech&period; &&num;8220&semi;There is absolutely no place in our Air Force for racism&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s not who we are, nor will we tolerate it in any shape or fashion&period; I&&num;8217&semi;ve said it before, the area of dignity and respect is my red line&period; Let me be clear&semi; it won&&num;8217&semi;t be crossed without significant repercussions&period;&&num;8221&semi;&NewLine;After images of the racist messages started to surface on social media, the Air Force Academy launched an official investigation, during which it was discovered that one of the &ldquo&semi;victims&rdquo&semi; of the racist act was, in fact, the culprit&period;&NewLine;&ldquo&semi;We can confirm that one of the cadet candidates who was allegedly targeted by racist remarks written outside of their dorm room was actually responsible for the act,&rdquo&semi; said Lt&period; Col&period; Allen Herritage, an academy spokesman to the Colorado Springs Gazette&period; &ldquo&semi;The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;Although the incident was deemed as a hoax, Silveria stands by his fiery statement&period; &nbsp&semi;&NewLine;&ldquo&semi;Regardless of the circumstances under which those words were written, they were written, and that deserved to be addressed,&rdquo&semi; said Silveria to the Colorado Springs Gazette&period; &ldquo&semi;You can never overemphasize the need for a culture of dignity and respect &mdash&semi; and those who don&rsquo&semi;t understand those concepts, aren&rsquo&semi;t welcome here&period;&rdquo&semi;&NewLine;The unnamed cadet that confessed that it was merely a hoax is no longer enrolled at the academy&period; The Preparatory School did not reveal if he was expelled or if he withdrew on his own accord&period;&NewLine;Sources told the Colorado Springs Gazette, that the cadet committed the vandalism in an attempt to avoid being punished for his other acts of misconduct&period;&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;Nonetheless, the academy made it clear that racism is not accepted&period;&NewLine;&ldquo&semi;We will continue to create a climate of dignity and respect for all, encourage ideas that do so, and hold those who fail to uphold these standards accountably,&rdquo&semi; said Herritage in an email to the Gazette&period;&NewLine;Author&rsquo&semi;s note&colon; It&rsquo&semi;s disgusting that this cadet tried to use racism as an excuse to get away with something&period; What is even worse is that this proves that when racism isn&rsquo&semi;t present, the left is willing to create it just to send a message&period;&NewLine;&nbsp&semi;&NewLine;