President Joe Biden updated the American public on the state of national security last week after the U.S. government shot down a Chinese spy balloon and other aerial objects recently seen flying over the country and other parts of North America.
During his brief remarks, the president assured the nation that there is increased security in U.S. airspace since the intelligence-gathering balloon was shot down on Feb. 4 and that through enhanced radar detection, U.S. fighter jets shot down three other yet-to-be-identified, unmanned objects “out of an abundance of caution.”
To assure Americans of their safety, Biden announced that his administration is taking additional measures to better secure U.S. airspace.
The idea of China, or any other foreign actor, surveilling the United States has put many Americans on alert. It may be especially troubling to Black Americans, who are statistically less trusting of the government than white Americans.
“Surveillance has been just a horror for the Black community,” Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, a national security strategist and founder of the Diversity in National Security Network (DINSN), told theGrio.
The former Army veteran and national security advisor to the Obama and Biden administrations pointed to the routine history of Black people being surveilled, from the controversial COINTELPRO era of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to decades of racial profiling by law enforcement. However, she noted, “It’s not just a domestic concern.”
What is hybrid warfare and how has it been used on Black people?
Castleberry-Hernandez said the recent case of the Chinese spy balloon reminds us of the potential dangers of global surveillance and other hybrid warfare tactics used by foreign governments. Hybrid warfare is any nontraditional warfare style, she explained.
When using hybrid warfare, governments use disinformation, economic…
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