Army battling decline in black recruits

[sabra]

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http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/12310705.htm

Army battling decline in black recruits

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The Iraq war is drying up at least part of a pool of recruits the Army has relied upon for decades: black Americans.

The Army has long enjoyed a special relationship with black Americans, who have filled its ranks at rates far beyond their share of the population since the draft was abolished in 1973.

But in a trend compounding the Army's recruiting woes, those days may be over.

"A lot of black kids, they don't want to be in it," said DeTorrian Rhone, 18, who recently graduated high school. He talked to Army recruiters but decided to go to Texas Southern University instead.

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[wakeme2008]

1. No problem all those white young Repugs will be joining up to

correct this problem :sarcasm:

[saigon68]

18. Black men and women are tired of dying for RICH OILY WHITE NEOCONS

And ilk like KindaSleazy Rice. An Oreo

Oh and President Cheney's favorite Pet Project Halliburton.

[Straight Shooter]

40. That was my first thought, too.

It's time to stop exploiting those who have nothing to gain in war. Let those who crave the spoils risk their own damn skins.

[Mairead]

2. It's amazing what having actual choices does for people, innit?

That 'special relationship' was racism.

[Raiden]

3. Probably has something to do with that one ad

"Don't worry. I checked them out, they're legit."

How incredibly offensive and stereotypical! I noticed that they dubbed it.

[Divernan]

4. Black parents better than white parents at spotting PR bullshit

in those offensive Army recruiting ads. Part of the stereotype is that in the ad with the black young man, it's the Mother he has to convince; in the ad with the white young man, it's the Father. (I haven't seen an ad directed at young women yet.) Another particularly offensive aspect of the ad with the black mother and son, is where the son tells his Mother that it's time for her to let him to be "The Man", implying a couple of things, like he'll take over responsibility for the family and give her a break, or that if she blocks him from this lethal choice, she'll hurt his future. What the ad is really pushing is that its time for Mom to let Son be cannon fodder for "The Men" at Halliburton.

In the ad with the white father and son, where the father asks where that came from that the son (just returned from boot camp, impliedly),looks dad in the eye and gives him a firm handshake, it's like saying to dads (particularly the ones who are lousy dads), if you've got a smart-mouthed, shifty-eyed teenager, bring him down to the recruiting office and we'll make him treat you with the respect you feel entitled to. At least for that brief time period between when he finishes training and gets blown up by an IED.

[Ian David]

5. Obviously. the black kid in the ad doesn't have a dad

Which means dad's either run-off, in jail, or dead.

I don't think it means the kid has two mommies.

Hey, I dare the army to try and recruit liberals by making a commercial showing a kid trying to convince his two mommies to let him join the army "reserve" so he can help people in poor countries.

[0007]

13. Thanks for the excellent run down!

[Mairead]

14. Nice analysis! (nt)

[Eloriel]

37. Good analysis. I'd add this

Precisely because of the absence of fathers from so many households, black mothers are often concerned that their son(s0 won't have good role models for being "The Man."

It's appallingly patronizing and, IMO, racist -- or at the very least, playing on issues that African Americans are concerned about or deal with. I wouldn't mind that so much if there weren't such an exploitative purpose behind it. And can there BE anything more exploitative than: we want your son as RPG fodder?

[kiki]

6. Indeed...

...in the same way that you have a "special relationship" with someone who kicks you in the nads and takes a dump on your carpet...

[krkaufman]

27. Not so much overt racism....

... as a difference in the wealth ratio.

The military is NOT all volunteer. Yes, one may choose to sign-up or not, but when your only other option is poverty, living on the street, etc. you can hardly call it voluntary. (Like Iraqis had a real electoral choice during Saddam's reign.)

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. I remember this being a big issue in the late-80's early 90's

Chuck D: "They wanted me for their Army or whatever/ Picture me giving a damn/ I said never./ Here is a land that never gave a damn/ about a a brother like me..."

Ice Cube: "Cuz we stopped being whores/ stopped doing floors/ So bitch you can fight your own wars..."

[bballny]

8. George did it again

He's united African Americans to stop joining the Army.

[Ilsa]

9. They now figure they can get them back into the army by

starving the beast and causing college tuition to go up. Enlisting as cannon fodder is the only way some kids, black or white, will be able to afford an education.

[Raiden]

11. Fortunantly, I don't think it's gonna work

People are finally waking up in America; and not a moment too soon

[greekspeak]

10. All these commercials are sick.

Not only are they patently racist--white kids go to college, black kids have to be the man of the family--they are also terribly misleading. There is never any mention of going to Iraq, nor is there ever any mention of fighting for corporations to take resources from the occupied lands. They play constantly, and make it sound as if you go to this little lark of a training thing, get free money just for doing it, and all is just hunky dorry. BULLS*IT. They want more cannon fodder for more wars of aggression.

[Betsy Ross]

19. Are we not getting these ads in SF Bay Area?

Northern California has a number of Iraq war victims, but we aren't seeing that many TV recruiting ads.

[Eloriel]

38. Hmmm, maybe they don't like your demographics

:rofl:

Large population of gays -- scratch that
Large population of liberals -- um, scratch that

Yeah, I imagine they think their money better spent elsewhere. :evilgrin:

[Zorra]

30. An enlistment commercial we'd like to see:

[Mairead]

35. EXCELLENT cartoon! Right on the money. (nt)

[Kolesar]

12. We should finance ads:"Live in Mom's basement and go to community college"

I could probably save a life by financing a scholarship.

[harlinchi]

15. I mentioned in an earlier post that this administration will try to...

villify Blacks because of their declining enlistment numbers. Blacks currently are said to represent 14% of all new enlistments, down from 24%. Each article that mentions these numbers fails to also mention that Blacks are about 11.5% of the general population of the US. Last time I checked, 11.5 is less than 14. I ask again, if Blacks continue to enlist in numbers that exceed their percentage of the population, which group IS under-represented? Hispanics? Doubt it. Asians? I have no idea. Whites. Maybe. Miq'Mac? Lakota? Cherokee? Delaware? Lenni Lenape?

Some group is not enlisting in appropriate numbers. Don't blame that on Blacks.

[Mairead]

16. "which group IS under-represented?"

Black folks, of course. The 'appropriate' representation of Black and Brown folks in cannon-fodder positions can be determined by taking the percentage of White people who are excused because of wealth (ca. 10%) and then substituting Black and Brown folk at an inverse ratio to their representation in the general population. Which would mean (muttercalculatemumble) that Black people should account for at least 70% of all cannon-fodder positions, just as they should account for at least 50% of all prison inmates.

If Black people don't get with the program again pretty soon, the wealthy will have to pass a Non-White Opportunity Law making 30-year infantry enlistments mandatory for any Black person who reaches age 18 with a pulse.

[theHandpuppet]

26. They die for white males, especially those with money

Let's call it for what it is, folks, though I rarely see the bare facts laid out, even here on DU.

Where is the seat of Republican power? It is with white males, and just perhaps black and Latino Americans are sick and tired of dying for the owners of the American plantation.

[SemperEadem]

22. could it be the Melungeons?

they've been blamed for much worse...

[Igel]

28. I haven't checked for a few months; last fall

the numbers had whites killed/wounded at a rate at or a tad higher than their overall percentage of the US population, Latinos at a rather higher rate, and blacks at a rate slightly lower than their percentage of the US population as a whole.

However, when it comes to enlisting, blacks made up a significantly higher percentage of some services than their proportion of the population would suggest is likely.

One reasonable conclusion: blacks enlist at higher levels in some services, but wind up in support positions at a rate far higher than other racial groups.

(Another, less reasonable one: they're assigned randomly, but are simply far better at not getting killed/wounded than whites and Latinos.)

[auburngrad82]

17. This is when you will see the draft become a hot topic

When minorities and lower income whites decide the military is not an option, then you will see draft talk come up again. The wealthy are not going to let their kids go to Iraq. And if they can't fill the ranks with volunteers...draft.

[rocktivity]

20. Cue the disco music! And flash back to that scene in Fahrenheit 911

where those nattily dressed Marine recruiters strode through the parking lot of a predominately black low end shopping mall!

But seriously, folks:

...Spc. Jeramie Jackson, 26...(a) Cavalry scout who is black, said "a lot of family and friends" tried to talk him out of joining last fall because of the war. He went ahead because he couldn't find a job that would support his young family, even with a criminal justice degree from Long Beach State College.

Bush was right--he really WON'T need a draft! He'll just keep eliminating entry-level jobs and PUSH young people into the military! But with a college degree, shouldn't he have done a little better than specialist?

Blacks also have strong negative views about the war and President Bush that...have cooled their ardor for the Army.

Aye, and there's the rub. The real barrier to recruitment is the Commander-In-Chump--Bush would never be confused with George Patton. Even if invading Iraq was legal and justifiable, the bottom line is that to enlist is to gamble your life on his judgment, his policies, his moral compass, his leadership--and his intelligence quotient.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Mairead]

23. " shouldn't he have done a little better than specialist?"

I suspect most White men with CJ degrees come in as MP Lieutenants.

[rocktivity]

32. It was a long time ago, but I remember seeing an Army ad

inviting people with two-year associate degrees to join because they would enter a few rungs above grunt.

:headbang:
rocknation

[dbt]

21. Someone HAS learned the lessons of Viet Nam 1!

[theHandpuppet]

24. What? No decline in the recruitment of rich white kids?

Oh right -- they don't enlist.

[wli]

25. ... and there aren't enough illegal immigrants to use as foederati

There's another "interesting" story here (tangentially related to all this). c.f. the discussion of genetic diversity among blacks exceeding those of other (artificially constructed) races, and resistance to "gene bombs," biological weapons intended to be racially selective so as to not endanger friendly troops.

[VegasWolf]

29. "The Army has long enjoyed a special relationship with black Americans",

humm, I guess that is one way of saying it!

[ninkasi]

31. Perhaps the black kids

read about Tom Delay's excuse for not serving in Viet Nam...the positions were all filled by "minorities" and are only trying to even things out by giving Delay, and his rich pals, and the Young Republicans, an opportunity to serve this time.

I wonder how many of the rich white kids will avail themselves of this gracious gesture? After all, blacks have been working themselves to death for rich whites for a long, long time. It's time to let the neocons and fundies take their turn.

In case anybody is wondering about this post... :sarcasm:
The government only cares about blacks when there is an election to be won, and they want their votes, or a war to be fought, and they want their lives.

[Canuckistanian]

33. Guess they're going to have to depend on rich white kids...

Like... the College Republicans!

[deadparrot]

34. Oh, damn. Should I weep?

Young people aren't volunteering themselves to become cannon fodder. A tragedy, indeed.

[Eloriel]

36. "special relationship with black Americans"?

The Army has long enjoyed a special relationship with black Americans, who have filled its ranks at rates far beyond their share of the population since the draft was abolished in 1973.

Could we have put this more euphemistically? The Army also has a special relationship with young people absolutely dying to get U.S. citizenship, too:

NYT: On Farthest U.S. Shores, Iraq Is a Way to a Dream
(of citizenship via serving in the U.S. Army)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x143611
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/national/31recruit.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1122783087-j1dob7zPVyTyYL539mMvHA


Economic and other kinds of hardship will make a lot of unpalatable things look more palatable, maybe even attractive. I wouldn't say that "at rates far beyond their share of the population since the draft was abolished in 1973" is exactly a positive commentary re the nation's opportunity for blacks and other minorities.

Unbelievable. Special relationship with blacks. Mutter, mutter.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

39. Another repulsive example of the government using racial profiling

[Dr Fate]

41. Suburban White Repubs would make adequate replacements.

They are supposed to have more education and better health care anyway- statistically speaking, of course.

Many of these types claim to have higher morals & stronger family back-grounds too. PLUS they claim to support and understand why we are in Iraq.

Sounds like they would make adequate replacements to me.