Just saying: MY Army (and just to be clear, I did my basic training here in 1973) has taken action on this. MY Army - the military - is something like 40% Black and Brown. MY Army, which took an oath to serve and protect INCLUDING Black folks like Deandre, INCLUDING all of us, is now being led by a Black man at the highest possible military level. Pentland is a lowly SSG. I outrank the sonofabitch myself. MR. Pentland is going to have to have a whole lot to say to explain what the fuck he thought he was doing. While I rather despise how invasive phone cameras are, in instances like this, I am immensely grateful. Because racism needs to be seen to be believed. This way we SEE it. Cameras now catch the shit that BIPOC have been experiencing for centuries. You can't deny it any more. If invasive cameras do nothing more than reveal what deniers call fake news, I am all for it. To that, this was on Twitter on my thread:

Fort Jackson Post CSM

@fortjacksoncsmT

UPDATE//: The Soldier in the video is stationed at Fort Jackson and has been charged by Richland County Sheriff's Department. Department of Justice at the federal level is also looking into the incident.

Until there are real outcomes: being dishonorably discharged, busted down several ranks, etc., White supremacist behavior will continue in MY military. It's been there forever. It's not going to get rooted out overnight.

It us fair to say that there is probably much more to learn, but the video is instructive. I respected my drill sgts when I was enlisted. Both were Black. This drill sgt doesn’t deserve respect.