This is exposing a very delicate issue in this country. Not to sound chauvinist, but it’s harder to fool black people with false patriotism because we’ve been fed shit by the government forever. It is obvious that we are mired in a forever war by an incompetent administration, and blacks are voting with their feet. With (primarily poor) whites it seems to be easier to fire up patriotic (or dare I say racist) blood against the A-rabs that bombed us (in a place many right-wingers have publicly wished unwell upon in the past, ironically) to get young people to sign on the dotted line. I am very close to this issue myself, as I wanted my nephew to serve as I did, but not anymore.
The number of blacks joining the military has plunged by more than one-third since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began. Other job prospects are soaring and relatives of potential recruits increasingly are discouraging them from joining the armed services.
According to data obtained by The Associated Press, the decline covers all four military services for active duty recruits. The drop is even more dramatic when National Guard and Reserve recruiting is included.
The findings reflect the growing unpopularity of the wars, particularly among family members and other adults who exert influence over high school and college students considering the military as a place to serve their country, further their education or build a career.
I wonder if any politicians will call blacks unpatriotic?
Depends on whether or not the pols are on camera.
I think we all have an idea what they say when they’re off camera. Once in a great while – like, uh, Trent Lott or el sleazo George Allen – they forget and something more like the good ol’ boys sippin’ whiskey club gets recorded.
The military used to be touted as a stepping stone out of the ghetto and it was.
Being in a war is never out right good for recruiting but on the flip side of the coin there is (was?) an overwhelming vein of belief in the black community that it is the black Soldier who is on the front lines doing the fighting and dying.
http://tinyurl.com/4pjy
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30736
This just isn’t the case but it still doesn’t mean that a misconnected belief still doesn’t affect recruiting.
Minorities tend to join logistical roles in the effort to gain a job skill that could transition to the civilian world. Whites tend to make up a large majority of the combat arms roles.
It wasn’t so long ago that blacks were not allowed to fight on the front lines. In WWII blacks historically were restricted to logistical roles. The role of the “fighting man” or the “fighter pilot” were refused to blacks because due to the argument that they were inferior.
Units like the “Triple Nickel” and the “Tuskegee Airman” fought hard to dispel those old beliefs and they were successful only to see it squandered by apathy today.
[Please use TinyUrl.com for overly long URLs. – ed.]
Recruits have in general been coming from the economic weaker classes (no, who fights wars is not a racial thing). Perhaps the African-American people is getting above the lower class white people and Hispanics?
Btw… Nice move Smartalix… you removed “trash” from your original “With (primarily poor) white trash…”
Do you think the Hispanic community will fill the void? Its one of the many political advantages about having a large community of ‘illegals’ in a country is you can always offer citizenship and legality in exchange for soldiery…. it worked well for the romans…. for a while….
3,
I didn’t want to piss anybody off.
4,
I wonder if any other group grew in proportion in enlistments.
Another interesting thing – if you looked at the demographics, blacks have generally made up a much smaller proportion of the combat arms specialties, compared to their total percentage of the military population. I believe it was the supply and admin fields that blacks tended to choose.
I didn’t know the job outlook for black high school drop outs was so rosy. in that “Other job prospects are soaring.” Since when is dope dealing a job prospect?
I don’t think serving in the military has ever been a way to “serve our country.” It has always been either required by the draft, a way to avoid jail, or the best job someone could get. Not 100%—–just mostly.
7,
I’m very proud of my service in the Army.
Perhaps it means blacks are doing something else with their time? The guys I knew in college – a ton of ’em, are making good livings for themselves.
Also, the military, despite whatever this says, still has the highest trust level of any institution as determined by Gallup:
Lack of patriotism? How about better jobs?
college is the new high school
It is hard to serve in the military when the majority of young black males are in jail. Where the fuck is Al Sharpton on this?
8—As you should be. We should all be proud of our choices. ((Especially after the fact?)). My statement still stands. Mostly==there is no reason to join a group who’s express purpose is to kill people and blow things up. Seems defending the constitution comes up much later in the boot camp training.
Hell yes recruitments are down for blacks. They found out they had to show up to work on time and couldn’t call in sick. Not to mention bling just clashed with the fatigues.
#13
Racist jerk.
14 – Not racist, realist.
i’ve read some stupid shit on here before but this is one of the stupider ones… blacks are moving up the economic latter.. yes too slow for sure but they don’t have to look to the military as the only way out now… they have other options. i doubt if you had asked a buffalo soldier just how “patriotic” he was, he would have most probably said… pass the beans…
Right. The government only feeds shit to black people. Right.
I dare to say I think you are as much a racist as anybody I know.
Smartalix – nice pic of Woody btw..
#17 – are there anything besides racists at the American Legion bar where you hang out?
Aren’t you happy with an army becoming mostly rednecks and wannabe rednecks with a rap sheet? They just have to learn to obey orders and pull the trigger when ordered.
Patriotism serves its purpose. Patriotism/nationalism unites people under a flag even though they are of different socio-economic/racial backgrounds.
True, blacks were discriminated mostly because of the lagging Religious Right in America but today (due to Liberals) blacks are free from legal discrimination. Internal attitudes (like don imus) take longer though I understand.
The U.S. military serves an important function. First, it defends against invaders. Second, it strengthens our economy. The war in Iraq has cost 3,000 soldiers lives but they sacrificed their lives so that you can keep bringing home the bacon. The war has boosted our economy. The stock market has broken all-time records again thanks to the fallout of the war. War is big money. There is nothing wrong with dying. I honor the dead soldiers. They have died a noble death so that 300,000,000 Americans can uphold their lifestyles. Your life style was protected by American boys and girls who have given their lives, man. Don’t go against the government on this one. There is great honor in living in America. Sometimes it may be hard to believe, but there is true freedom here. For real. Patriotism is a great part of that freedom.
Also, young black men have escaped the discipline of religion which is why their freedom (mixed with poverty) have made them criminals. The army is a good way to get them disciplined. Didn’t it do a good job with you, Smartalix? Damn, you look sharp in your suit, and you seem a nice, honest guy with integrity. It’s either the army or jail/cemetary for young black youths who escape the grips of religion. Who wants to hire an undisciplined person regardless of what color they are?
America, the Beautiful.
[edited: duplicate post]
Not sure what you mean boboo. A high school drop out, regardless of race, rarely gets the opportunity to join the military. Does it happen? Yes. But those slots are few and far between. Most high school drop outs can’t score over a 50 on the ASVAB. Let alone being morally or physically qualified. The DoD caps the numbers of high school drop outs to less that 0.5%. That number was from 99-02 time frame.
The numbers the military are counting that arent joining the military are blacks that graduate high school and deciding they don’t want to come in the military.
No 13 comments are just stupid.
I did eight years (some better than others) at sea in the navy, including a year and a half in the “Brown Water Navy” incountry Vietnam. I’m proud of my service, and the experiences and life lessons gained have benefited me tremendously in my post military life. That said, I’d not recommend the military today for any young man, or woman, as the chance of being blown away in a really stupid war today exceeds even the really stupid war we were fighting in the sixties. And as the years go by I note that ethnicity is becoming more irrelevant, and rascism, while still a factor, is gradually lessening it’s grip on human relations. Indeed, as an American, I look at the troubles in Europe and the Middle East and think that our multi-cultural society is getting along better than the rest of the world.
a. I’m not here to criticize anyone’s choice in servicing in the armed forces. I was in myself, in the late 1970s.
b. I’m suspecious of any article (the purple section) reporting what’s going on with the military. All of that info is strictly controlled. So feeding the public news (and Dvorak) with this tidbit, may have hidden purpose. Like justifying an upcoming draft, by labeling it a racial issue. Then the white voters will feel that its justified to force more blacks to serve. Or something to that effect.
c. A simple way to remedy this “imbalance” (if it really makes any difference to the military. which I suspect it doesn’t), would be to get Hollywood to make some more “An Officer and a Gentleman” type movies, with this generation’s “Lou Gossett Jr.” like actors in heroic roles, that will inspire young black men to join. Ok, so Denzel Washington might be convinced to reprise his role in “Crimson Tide”. But could they get Spike Lee to roll over, and “join the army”? Doubt it.
Actually, I would think that the Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch debacles would give any thoughtful person pause about volunteering. The cover-ups made the difference between image and reality stark.
The ‘adventure’ appeal to young white men should also start to wane as more and more of them return with missing limbs or not at all.
Even with Lauren the Bigot around, so many racist remarks under different screen names as this thread has is unusual. On the other hand, maybe there are people ignorant enough to think most young black men are in prison. Racists tend to be stupid.
Nice URL that U left for us by clicking on Ur name at the end of your post, knights_templar700 – ‘ http:// ‘
That aligns quite well with Ur comments, which are also empty and vacuous as well as being based not on fact but on Ur own opinions.
Yes, everyone has the right to their opinions yet not to their own facts.
I have not heard of a single case where
‘ American boys and girls who have given their lives ‘ in Iraq. The USA’s current Colonization of Iraq has cost the lives of over 3,000 American military, not a one of whom was a ‘ boy ‘ or ‘ girl ‘, k_t7.
It U REALLY believe as U stated that,
‘ There is nothing wrong with dying. ‘, please give it a shot at Ur earliest convenice and let us know how that works
out for U.
Allen McDonald, El Galloviejo®
I say hooray to those that will use their brains and not enlist. Its high time that the soldiers there now just tell their CO’s hiding in ‘Der Bunker’ to screw themselves and refuse to take any further orders.
In fact they should go the extra step and seize all vehicles and get themselves home. They are not being paid or treated well enough as mercenaries. And merc are what they TRULY are. They are not real soldiers, not career. They are volunteers, its not their job, its A job. They are working and dying for WAY less money than the civilian sector people make for half the crap.
Come home! The craven CO’s and fools in DC don’t have enough cells to stick you all in. Mass refusal of all volunteers would MAKE these morons in control have to re-think their foolhardy waste of human life.
Screw the CO’s. Let them bring their comfortable candy asses down to the front line and pull their own triggers. If they WANT this to succeed so bad, then fight it WITH your men, not cowaring behind them in the Green Zone.
Cursor_
Perhaps it’s time for the rich to start doing their own dying….
#27.
God Damn Right! I want to see George’s two little hose monsters start doing street patrols in Baghdad. How about Cheney’s Daughter? Shit how about George and Cheney themsleves? Neither one ever served his country, only his own purposes. Add DeLay and Wolfawitz to the list of chicken hawks.
21–I accept and learn from your comment. What I read is that recruitment standards have been falling and I thought I read about a recruiter who got his drop-outs a GED to get them in.
13 is not being stupid. Just funny. A social comment on the hip hop sub culture.
I spent some of the evening thinking about the nature of “patriotism.” As 19 cheekily points out, I do think it is more mis-used and mis-understood than most other concepts. There was a quote from Borges in a short film to the effect that “thinking well of ourselves is a comfort when we had no other choices.” Being “proud” I think is another complex psychodynamic word that is more about protecting our ego than being analytical. I’m proud to be a patriot. Too complex for me.
#17 Everyone is a little racist. Anyone who says they are not at all, is living in a dreamworld. And not the cool Matrix one.