On Tuesday 9/19/23, Students for Fair Admissions sued to stop affirmative action in admissions to the nation’s military academies. That group recently won a lawsuit in the Republican majority Supreme Court that ended race conscious admissions for most colleges.

Having just read the newly released book “ Lincoln’s God “ by Joshua Zeitz, I’m absolutely certain that America’s first Republican president would be very much against trying to keep African Americans out of America’s military academies. In the midst of the horror of the Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the last line of which is as follows: Upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. Lincoln clearly wanted freed slaves to join the Union Army.

Until the time when all of America’s schools afford their students equal educational opportunities, stopping race conscious college admissions is just another way to extend racism. Furthermore, academic ability is not the most important component of a great military leader, when General Lee was at West Point he was 2nd in his class while General Grant was 21st out of a class of 39 at West Point.