Tags: saudi arabia | us military | central command | welcome booklet

US Military Apologizes for Document That Says Some Saudis Have 'Negro Blood'

a saudi arabian women on a commercial street in riyadh, saudi arabia.

Photo by: Oliver Weiken/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

By    |   Thursday, 01 November 2018 04:19 PM EDT

A 2018 "Welcome Booklet" for military personnel deployed to Saudi Arabia – and lampooned by comedian Hasan Minhaj for including the phrase "Negro blood" in its description of the country’s racial mix – triggered an apology Thursday from U.S. Central Command, Military.com reported.

"Oh America, even in boring, technical manuals you somehow manage to be racist," Minhaj lamented in his new Netflix show Patriot Act posted Sunday.

The 69-page booklet – which includes information ranging from base services to religious and cultural life in Saudi Arabia – also detailed the country's history, stating its population "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," the military news outlet reported.

"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, Military.com reported. "We removed the document as soon as we were notified of the content, and it was returned to the originating office for revision."

Urban said a survey is underway of other training material to ensure it doesn't contain offensive language.

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GlobalTalk
A 2018 "Welcome Booklet" for military personnel deployed to Saudi Arabia triggered an apology Thursday from U.S. Central Command, Military.com reported.
saudi arabia, us military, central command, welcome booklet
201
2018-19-01
Thursday, 01 November 2018 04:19 PM
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