"The appropriate response is a better idea..."

Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria addresses the US Air Force Academy and its prep school about racial slurs found on the dormitory message boards of some black students.

---

Over the weekend, you probably saw headlines about Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria denouncing racial slurs that appeared at the US Air Force Academy's prep school campus last week.

Like me, you may have figured that you could skip the video because the headlines told you everything you needed to know: racism had been confronted boldly and unambiguously by an educational leader. Still, for some reason this morning I decided to watch that video.

Trust me when I tell you that you, too, should invest 5 minutes watching Lt. Gen. Silveria's comments.

Here is the essence of his message, which he unpacks in several simple, powerful ways, from having every faculty and staff member join him to his request to cadets about their smart phones at the end:

"The appropriate response for horrible language and horrible ideas--the appropriate response is a better idea."

At Basecamp, we agree 100% with Lt. Gen. Silveria.

This isn't just about "diversity." It's about pluralism.