The signs say it all At a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee last week, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said this about critical race theory: âIâll obviously have to get much smarter on whatever the theory is, but I do think itâs important actually for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read.â Fair enough, but that leads to this question: How does one become smarter about CRT? In much of the media, itâs being described as nothing more than an âacademic conceptâ or an âanalytic toolâ for understanding âwhite rageâ and âsystemic racism.â