Let;s hear it for ignorance!

[gridlore]

From an article on aggressive tactics my military recruiters.

Nancy Carroll didn't know schools were giving military recruiters her family's contact information until a recruiter called her 17-year-old granddaughter.

That didn't sit well with Carroll, who believes recruiters unfairly target minority students. So she joined activists across the country who are urging families to notify schools that they don't want their children's contact information given out.

"People of color who go into the military are put on the front line," said the 67-year-old Carroll, who is black.

Bollocks. The majority of people in Army combat units are white. Minorities tend to join for job skill training and college opportunities, whites more for the adventure and experience. I state this as a former infantryman. Every infantry unit I was in had more white guys than other races. But our support units looked like the bloody UN.

So yes, decry the overly aggressive recruiters who are crossing far too many lines in trying to fill the ranks, but don't play the damn race card when it isn't warranted.

Comments

[hartt-tommel.livejournal.com]

Most of the Combat Arms guys are white. There are blacks in there (hell, there's even one or two Irish/Viet/German mongrels in there), but the great ultra-lefty myth that minorities are used as "canon fodder" is a load of shite.*

-Tom

*It does provide for a funny moment in the South Park movie though.

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

They were in the past. In medical experiments that ended up denying people infected with syphilis a known cure. The Tuskegee 'experiments' lasted over 40 years, and had the collaboration of the office of the Surgeon General.

Things are different today, but if the woman being quoted was 67 years old, she might have good reason to mistrust the US government.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

The Surgeon General is a civilian post.

As for Tuskegee.. i prefer to remember the Airmen who trained there and became one of the most storied units of WWII.

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

Oops. I didn't realize I was implying that the Surgeon General was military. I just mentioned it because it was a federal post, appointed by the president, not for any military reason.

I prefer to remember both groups from Tuskegee. I think keeping both of them mentioned gives a good sense that, despite being segregated and discriminated against, the airmen showed courage and patriotism. They were the better Americans than the people experimenting on other black citizens

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

If anything, I would expect a racist Army Personnel to keep minorities OUT of combat units, to avoid teaching them combat skills that would be a problem in a potential revolt or revolution. The anecdotal evidence shared above is interesting in that respect.

The Russian military spent enormous amounts of effort on racially mixing its combat units to prevent the possibility of nationalist units revolting. However, the important stuff (i.e. Strategic Forces, officer corps, etc) was almost 100% ethnic Russian.

[soldiergrrrl.livejournal.com]

Do you smoke crack on a daily basis or is this new for you?

When you're enlisting, you pick your job based on your GT score.

Besides, every Soldier out there gets training with M-16/M-4, and basic combat stuff. No, it's not the hgh-speed shit the Infantry learns, and God knows we could use it, but it is basic combat skills.

Honestly, most support MOSs don't have the money or the time to learn the Infantryman's job. That's a full time thang right there.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

So much for being clear. I was thinking of a "hypothetically racist" Army personnel classification system. I don't think that they are racist by any means. They have a mission to achieve and that would get in the way.

However, since you mention it, haven't you noticed that the GT scoring system is just as culturally biased as the SATs and other standardized tests? I will point out that its administration is slightly more fair, however. Also, who do you think sets the GT requirements for each MOS?

Again, to be painfully clear, the Army doesn't care what color a soldier is. This has been a very positive force for change in American society.

That doesn't mean that other national militaries (and certain American big city police agencies) don't play games with race and recruitment.

There are three basic infantry techniques taught by the U.S. special forces: the basic stuff they teach to partisans who might change sides next week, the good stuff we teach to our allies, and the really cool stuff that is strictly kept in house. I wouldn't imagine that we'd teach the latter in Basic to support troops.

For the record, the only crack I smoke is biological, not chemical in nature. Your snarkiness is fine by me, however.

[soldiergrrrl.livejournal.com]

So much for being clear. I was thinking of a "hypothetically racist" Army personnel classification system. I don't think that they are racist by any means. They have a mission to achieve and that would get in the way.

However, since you mention it, haven't you noticed that the GT scoring system is just as culturally biased as the SATs and other standardized tests? I will point out that its administration is slightly more fair, however. Also, who do you think sets the GT requirements for each MOS?

I don't know. You could probably argue that it's gender-skewed too, since it has a lot of mechanicals on it, but what would you suggest?

There are some technically intensive jobs that need certain skill sets. I didn't go into commo because despite my GT score I knew that I'd struggle mightily.

If/when I apply for flight school I will have to study my butt off for spatials because it's not something that I'm used to dealing with.

Again, to be painfully clear, the Army doesn't care what color a soldier is. This has been a very positive force for change in American society.

That doesn't mean that other national militaries (and certain American big city police agencies) don't play games with race and recruitment.

I'm not in another nation's military and the only games I'm aware of by police departments is the push to recruit minority officers to patrol that ethnic neighborhood.

There are three basic infantry techniques taught by the U.S. special forces: the basic stuff they teach to partisans who might change sides next week, the good stuff we teach to our allies, and the really cool stuff that is strictly kept in house. I wouldn't imagine that we'd teach the latter in Basic to support troops.

No, and there's no reason to. It's time intensive, and requires motivation that most troops don't have. Not to mention it would be wasted training because most support/non-CA troops haven't the time or inclination to keep those skills sharp.

For the record, the only crack I smoke is biological, not chemical in nature. Your snarkiness is fine by me, however.

Well, I'm glad.