Friday, November 2, 2018

CENTCOM Apologizes for Training Manual with Phrase ‘Negro Blood’



By John Vandiver

U.S. Central Command issued an apology Thursday after it was discovered that offensive language including the phrase “Negro blood” had found its way into a welcome guide for military personnel deployed to Saudi Arabia.

“We regret that inappropriate material was posted to our website without a more fulsome review and apologize to anyone who took offense,” CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said in a statement. 

“We removed the document as soon as we were notified of the content, and it was returned to the originating office for revision.”

The 69-page “Welcome Booklet,” which includes information ranging from base services to religious and cultural life in Saudi Arabia, delved into the country’s history with arcane language now regarded as offensive.

“The population of the (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is mainly composed of descendants of indigenous tribes that have inhabited the peninsula since prehistoric times with some later mixture of Negro blood from slaves imported from Africa,” said the manual dated June 2018.

Click here for the full article.

Source: Stars and Stripes

No comments: