A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford
The dramatic decline in Black volunteers has created a crisis for the U.S. military, which only partially makes up for the shortfall through an increase in Hispanic enlistment. The Pentagon tries to explain the sea change in young Blacks' attitudes toward the armed services by citing new civilian job opportunities, and the large proportion of female-headed Black households. The first proposition does not square with the facts, while the second fails to recognize that Blacks of both sexes and all ages have opposed the Iraq war from the beginning. Mama, Papa and all the relatives agree.
Are Blacks Staying Away from the Military Because Mama Said So?
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
"Black recruitment has fallen by more than a third."
The U.S. military may have thought it was a fluke when Black recruitment started
declining about the time the Iraq war began. Now the multi-year figures are in, and the picture is clear: African Americans are staying away from the military in droves. Since the war in Afghanistan began, Black recruitment has fallen by more than a third. The decline is even more dramatic when the National Guard and Reserves are factored in. The Army has been most affected by the mass Black stay-away, with the Black proportion of recruits cut almost in half since the year 2000. But the phenomenon is felt strongly in all the services.
The Pentagon points to several reasons for the implosion of Black recruitment. More young African Americans are finding good jobs, the top military brass say, citing what they claim is a strong economy. But the data on Black youth employment do not support that theory - and remember, the decline in Black recruitment became first apparent in the early 2000's, when the nation was in the grip of an extremely harsh recession. Job prospects were terrible, but for more and more young Blacks, service in the military under a war-happy George Bush was not an option. Remember, also, that during the Clinton presidency, when employment for young Blacks was far better than under Bush, Black recruitment in the military remained high. The Pentagon's economic theory for Black abstention from military service doesn't stand up to the facts.
The second factor cited by the military, is that family members and Black political leaders are influencing young people to turn the recruiters down. This makes a lot more sense, but then the Pentagon throws nonsense into the equation, saying Black households more often have women in charge, and women are more anti-war than men. This is a clever way of transforming what is a political issue into a gender issue. The fact is, the vast majority of Black men and women have opposed Bush's Iraq war from the very beginning. THAT - not female-headed households, not youth job prospects - is what separates the Black community from all others, and logically accounts for the dramatic decline in Black recruitment.
"Hispanics have been much less opposed to the Iraq war than Blacks."
The precipitous fall in African American volunteers is partially made up for by sharp increases in Latino recruitment. Does that mean that Latinos don't listen to their mothers? Of course not. Latinos are over-represented, especially in combat units, because large numbers of them see the military as a route to citizenship. But most importantly, Hispanics have been much less opposed to the Iraq war than Blacks. In fact, Hispanic opinion data on the war much more resembles white opinion.
Bush's Army is now so hard up for soldiers, it has increased the age of enlistment from 35 to 42 - an indication of how waging imperial wars is creating deep societal crisis.
Barack Obama - far from opposing imperial war-making - wants to add nearly 100,000 more troops to the mix. Let's see what Black mothers have to say about that.
For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.
Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
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Dr. Jemima Pierre is a Black Agenda Report editor and contributor.
Alec Karakatsanis is an attorney with a long history of work as a public defender.
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