The decision to appoint this Air Force fighter pilot and activist for the rights of the African-American population, to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff is historic, since it could be the first time that both the Secretary of Defense and this position are led by African-Americans, having Lloyd Austin and Brown in those positions. Now the Senate must approve his nomination.
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“I am honored to introduce my nominee to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Q. Brown Junior. General, welcome. General Brown is a warrior descended from a proud line of warriors.”
This is how US President Joe Biden nominatedl General, Charles Q. Brown, for the position of Chief of the General Staff of the United States. If approved, it would be the first time in the last 30 years that an African-American has led the country’s highest military command.
Brown is a four-star general and currently the head of his country’s Air Force, who President Biden praised as having “built a reputation throughout the force as an unflappable and highly effective leader.”
If confirmed, Brown would replace Army General Mark Milley, who ends his term in October. In addition, there would be a novelty for the history of the Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense: it would be the first time to have an African-American leadership, since it would join Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense.
Charles Brown’s career
Brown has been a pioneer at various times, he was the first black commander of the Air Force Pacific Air Forces. In addition to having been the first black chief of staff of the same department, thus being the first African-American to lead a military branch.
His nomination caps a four-decade military career that spans from his tenure as a distinguished ROTC graduate of Texas Tech University in 1984 to his White House nomination this week. He was widely viewed within military circles as the frontrunner for the presidency, with the right commands and a record of driving institutional change, attributes seen as necessary to push the Pentagon toward a more modern footing to deal with China’s rise. In addition to having knowledge and experience in other regions of interest to Washington such as the Middle East.
But the name of General Brown became even better known when he recorded a video after the murder of George Floyd exactly three years ago, on May 25, 2020. In the tape, the soldier spoke movingly about the murder of the young African-American man at the hands of of a policeman in Minneapolis.
Since then, President Biden has issued several executive orders related to police power, but has failed to get Congress to pass a law that seeks to prevent murders like Floyd’s.
The 46-year-old man died after suffering suffocation caused by the pressure of a white police officer’s knees, causing great outrage both in the United States and abroad and giving way to the “Black Lives Matter” media movement.
Political message from the Biden Administration against racism
“I think of the protests in my country (…), the equality expressed in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that I have sworn to support and defend throughout my adult life. I think of a history of racial problems and my own experiences, which were not always brimming with freedom and equality.
Those were Brown’s words for the Floyd case. According to military experts, The choice of the African-American general to command the US forces will rightly be seen as a milestone in shaping the image that the Armed Forces present to the world, and to themselves, in the years to come.
And it is that the command of the Army is another example of structural racism in the United States. Despite the fact that nearly 40% of active-duty US soldiers are non-white, the most prestigious leadership positions have been held by whites.
The Senate is now in charge of approving Brown’s nomination as chief of staff.
With AP and local media
