An Alberta -based analyst asked the military to study white supremacy in their ranks says that if you do not want the problem to be rooted, it should take measures against a culture that gives it space to grow.
The political scientist Andy Knight says that his research suggests that current attitudes within the Armed Forces favor white, male and Christian cultures and put groups such as women, people of color, newcomers and the 2SLGBTQ+ community at disadvantage.
“It is a long -standing historical problem that has to do with the military’s mentality about who should be in the army and how they will be treated once they are inside,” Knight said in an interview.
“This is a kind of attention call for the military … They should do something about this problem before they get out of control.”
Knight, with the University of Alberta, is to meet with defense and military officers in Ottawa to discuss their findings and recommendations.
The proposal occurred after a 2022 report of a panel of retired members concluded that not enough to prevent white supremacists and other violent extremists to infiltrate the ranks.
He said that the investigation became even more intriguing after it was revealed that some military members were involved in the protests of the “2022 convoy of 2022 against the Covid-19 rules that closed much of the center of Ottawa for weeks.
A former Manitoba reservist, Patrik Mathews, was also sentenced in 2021 to nine years in the United States for his role in what the FBI called a violent plot to trigger a “racial war.”
Knight’s study, based on interviews with current and previous soldiers, as well as academic research and media reports, highlights a growing presence of anti-neumatic feelings, anti-Semitic and xenophobes.
In general, it begins in recruitment, says the report, since the military focuses on the recruitment of rural areas that can have limited diversity. He points out that approximately 90 percent of soldiers are white men, creating an environment where supremacist beliefs can flourish.
“Because white personnel continue to form a demographic majority, white recruits tend to find a sense of belonging and permanence,” says the report.
He adds that some recruits may already have marginal opinions on issues such as race, religion, immigration, gender and sexuality. The views are often extended through social networks and through the construction of camaraderie, sometimes out of view of the leaders.
“An individual was in a unit with some boys who said they arrived at the army to learn how to use the military to kill brown and black people,” Knight said.
The report also says that disadvantaged groups that respond to the call to serve can experience an imbalance of power, which leads some to fear that discrimination complaints are discarded.
Some soldiers described the leaders as subtly the blind eye before supremacist ideologies.
A former soldier was considered “not suitable” for leadership roles for not fulfilling the military culture that was against their religious beliefs.
Another was absent to pray during Ramadan despite the permission of leaders.
The report also addresses the gender imbalance, and a recruit said they were forced to undress in front of an instructor while a colleague changed in the privacy of a tent.
“As a result, many qualified people leave or dissuade to join CAF despite their genuine desire to serve,” says the report. The forces face a deficit of almost 10,000 people.
The study says that the military are working to address discriminatory behaviors, but you have to do more.
Defense Minister Bill Blair said that fighting bias and discrimination demand continuous and implacable action and that racism in forces erodes the cohesion of an effective army.
Knight said the key is to remodel military culture to welcome the historically excluded.
Knight suggests a robust recruitment projection to prevent extremists from joining the ranks. It also recommends zero tolerance for extremism and training so that the upper officers recognize the signs of white supremacy, often coded in symbols, slogans and images.
A former soldier who participated in the study said that renewing military culture is crucial because it is the only institution with a “license to kill.”
“We have to keep it as clean as possible,” said the soldier.
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