By Tony Brown
At first, I thought the firing of Charles Q. Brown Jr. was largely because he was Black. General Brown was the United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was only the second Black to hold that position as Chair and the first African American to lead a branch of the United States Armed Forces (Air Force). General Brown had just completed his 41st year of service when Trump fired him.
He was replaced with retired 3-Star General Dan Caine, who, by US law, wasn’t qualified to hold the position. After several months, I understand the firing of C.Q. Brown a lot better.
General Brown would have opposed the renaming of Army bases back to Confederate names. He would have opposed the removal of distinguished Blacks from military websites and the removal of books by African American authors.
General Brown never would have allowed the deployment of the US Marines in Los Angeles.
Brown would not have allowed the US military to kill eleven Venezuelans suspected of carrying drugs through the Caribbean. He would have insisted on their arrest.
He would have opposed the National Guard detaining US citizens and questioning citizens based on their racial appearance.
He would have opposed the threatening of US cities with the military. He would have warned that it would be difficult to recruit from US cities because potential soldiers, sailors, and airmen would believe they may be asked to intimidate the very cities that they had lived in.
He would have opposed the Department of Defense being called the Department of War because of its signal to the world that US soldiers were warriors rather than a force that liberates or defends against terrorism.
Now, I am glad that Charles Q. Brown Jr. never had to have his name tarnished by the military that he had once led.