The Air Force Academy has launched investigations into racial slurs that parents have decried on social media.
Racial slurs were written on dormitory message boards outside the rooms of black cadet candidates at the Air Force Academy Preparatory School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, earlier this week, Newsweek reported.
One of the cadet's mother exposed this when she posted a photo to Facebook depicting a derogatory slur written on the whiteboard outside her son's room.
In the post, which has since been removed, she wrote, "this is why I'm so hurt- These young people are supposed to bond and protect each other and the country," according to the Air Force Times. "Who would my son have to watch out for? The enemy or the enemy?"
In an interview with the Air Force Times, the candidate's father called the incident "utter stupidity," adding that the slur would not yield a reaction from him or his family.
"My initial advice to him [son] was, respond with intelligence, do not react, do not get upset," he said. "You don‘t have to defend intelligence, you don't have to defend common sense, you don't have to defend confidence. He's fine."
Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, said in a statement that kind of behavior would not be tolerated at the Prep School or in the United States Air Force.
"If you can't treat someone from another race or different color skin with dignity and respect, then you need to get out," he said. "If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out."
Lt. Col. Allen Herritage, an Air Force Academy spokesman, said in a statement to Fox News that the Academy's Security Forces were looking into the matter.
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