Here are some important facts to keep in mind. First, West Point has had a social science department since just after World War II, when senior Army officers realized that military leaders would have to know more about politics, society, and history to function in an expansive, democratic America. Requiring cadets to take some social sciences courses, and even creating a “Sosh” major, did not detract from their military drills and training... Second, the course at West Point on race, gender, class, and sexuality was created and incorporated into the curriculum in 1999—long before “woke” or “critical race theory” became buzzwords. It was proposed and designed by a professor of foreign policy at the time, Maj. Isaiah Wilson, who went on to rank first in his class at the Army’s Command and General Staff College, was hired by Gen. David Petraeus to be his chief of plans during the Iraq war, and is now president of the Joint Special Operations University. In other words, he’s no softie. The professor teaching the course now, a civilian named Rachel Yon, took it over from Wilson in 2012—again, predating the kerfuffle over wokeness and CRT. (Yon was one of Wilson’s professors at West Point when he was a student in the ’90s; in other words, she’s not a fashionable hire.) Third, Wilson thought it was important to teach such a class at West Point because, like many American institutions, the Army has never been a mainstay of racial or gender equality—and, as more Blacks and women rose through the ranks, the presence of prejudice was emerging as an issue, so the rank and file should at least be aware of it. (Wilson himself is African American.)