Press Release

Cummings Calls on Coast Guard Commandant to Address Racial Intolerance at U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Letter follows two incidents involving hangman’s nooses

Washington, D.C. — Following the discovery of two nooses placed among the personal effects of a student and officer at the United States Coast Guard Academy, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, called upon Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen to address the full Academy and thoroughly investigate the incidents (text of letter below).

“The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is an institution that is tasked with preparing the next generation of officers for one of our most noble services, and I was utterly shocked when I heard about these implicit threats on both a student and an officer,” Congressman Cummings said. “Racial discrimination and intolerance have no place in either the Academy or the Coast Guard, and these incidents run directly against the efforts being made to increase diversity throughout the Coast Guard.”

The Academy announced that it will be expanding training on race relations following the discovery of the two hangman’s nooses—one found in the bag of an African-American cadet, and the second in the office of a white female officer who led a training on race relations in response to the first incident. While Congressman Cummings applauds the efforts of the Academy to expand training, he feels this is not enough.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that such ignorant and hateful behavior would occur in today’s society—particularly in an institution such as the Coast Guard Academy,” Congressman Cummings said. “I have asked Admiral Allen not only to conduct a thorough investigation into the incidents, but also to address the entire Academy to convey that such behavior will not be tolerated in the Service.”

Earlier this year, a task force convened by the Coast Guard examining the diversity of the Academy’s student body and faculty found that minorities comprised only 13.5 percent of the Coast Guard’s student body, compared to 16 percent in 1991. Additionally, minorities comprised only 7 percent of the faculty and staff. Because of the low number of African Americans recruited into the Coast Guard Academy and retained in the Coast Guard, less than one percent of Captains on active duty are African American.

“The Coast Guard must redouble its effort to ensure that students and faculty at the Coast Guard Academy and throughout the Service—including at its highest officer levels—reflect the diversity of the American society,” Congressman Cummings said. “I will be working closely with Admiral Allen to ensure that this is the case.”

Text of the letter:

Dear Admiral Allen:

I write today because I am extremely alarmed to learn about the two incidents involving the placement of nooses among the personal effects of an African American student at the United States Coast Guard Academy and later among the personal effects of an officer who was conducting a training session on race relations in response to the discovery of the first noose. 

These terrible incidents at the Academy – which were clearly intended to threaten and intimidate – directly contravene our efforts to increase diversity throughout the Coast Guard and they demand an immediate and forceful response from the highest levels of the Coast Guard’s leadership.

I urge you to personally address the entire Academy community at the earliest possible date to make it clear that actions like those that occurred at the Academy will not be tolerated and to explain your views on diversity and tolerance, which I know to be consistent with my own. 

I believe it is also imperative that these incidents be thoroughly investigated – and that you make it clear that those who do not support the values of diversity and tolerance and those who would so purposefully incite fear among their fellow students and officers will not be permitted to remain in the service of the United States Coast Guard.

Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings
Member of Congress
Chairman, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation

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