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Study: 20 percent of war deaths are blacks
The Commercial Appeal ^ | 4/12/03 | Thomas Hargrove

Posted on 04/12/2003 5:32:41 AM PDT by GailA

Study: 20 percent of war deaths are blacks

By THOMAS HARGROVE April 11, 2003

Nearly a fifth of the fatalities among U.S. troops in the current war in Iraq are black, which will be the highest cost African Americans have paid in any of America's wars if the trend continues.

There are also indications that Hispanics may be over-represented among the war dead, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study.

This isn't the result of minorities being assigned to dangerous duty in front-line units. Elite combat troops like Special Forces units and the Green Berets are disproportionately white, military experts said. The U.S. Army's dash to Baghdad forced supply convoys occasionally to traverse enemy-held territory in southern and central Iraq, leaving minority troops assigned to logistical units vulnerable.

"We opened ourselves up to this by driving forward, leaving long logistical supply lines that must travel territory that we do not militarily control," said David Segal, director of the University of Maryland's Center for Research on Military Organization. "But our combat doctrine is one of deep intrusion after all, to go after the command-and-control centers of our enemies."

The study was based on an analysis of the 105 fatalities identified by the Defense Department as deaths related to the war as of April 10. Scripps Howard was able to determine the race of 98 of these, of whom 19 were African American.

"I was not aware of this and am surprised by it," said Julian Bond, national chairman of the NAACP. "I knew that black soldiers were concentrated in the non-combat positions of the military, which makes this all the more surprising. But clearly, these support troops were subjected to battle conditions unexpectedly."

The study found the race of 19.4 percent of all fatalities in which race was able to be determined was black. African Americans represent 13 percent of the U.S. population and 20 percent of all military personnel.

"African Americans are, relatively speaking, over-represented in the military. But the real point of the spear, groups like Special Ops, are almost lily white," Segal said. "It is just that in the kind of war we are fighting, there is no insulation for people in the rear areas from death or injury."

Three of the dead black soldiers - Spec. Jamaal Addison of Roswell, Ga., Pfc. Howard Johnson of Mobile, Ala., and Pfc. Brandon Sloan of Bedford, Ohio - were killed March 23 when a convoy of supply troops from the Army's 507th Maintenance Co. were ambushed Nasiriyah, Iraq.

Those three and nine others were killed either by enemy gunfire during convoy duty or by accidents while driving military vehicles. The remaining seven are reported to have died in what appear to be non-convoy related combat encounters.

The study also found that 14 of the dead troops (or 14.3 percent) have Hispanic surnames and may consider themselves to be Hispanic. Fewer than 8 percent of all military personnel are Hispanic, according to the Defense Department. However, military experts warn that this is a difficult statistic to prove unofficially since ethnicity is self-defined.

For example, Mexican-born Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus Suarez del Solar of Escondido, Calif., who died March 30 when the First Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion encountered enemy fire, is officially Hispanic only if he identified himself on military records as Hispanic.

It seems likely, however, that fatalities among black and Latino troops will hit new highs in the second Iraqi war since both groups experienced steadily increasing percentages of combat-related deaths in recent wars.

Very few blacks and Hispanics were assigned to front-line combat units during World War II. According to a study released by the Pentagon's Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, blacks accounted for 8.4 percent of all military deaths during the Korean War.

"Korea was the war during which we racially integrated the military and so African American casualties started to increase," Segal said. "They actually approached parity (with population percent) during the Vietnam War."

The Pentagon estimates that 12.4 percent of the combat deaths in Vietnam were among blacks, almost exactly the percentage of blacks in the American population. In the 1991 Persian Gulf War blacks accounted for 17.3 percent of fatalities.

Hispanic casualties, although difficult to calculate exactly, also appear to be rising. Soldiers who identified themselves either as Hispanic or partially Hispanic represented 2.4 percent of deaths in Korea, 0.6 percent in Vietnam and 4.1 percent during the first Persian Gulf War.

(e-mail hargrovet(at)shns.com)


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: blacks; deaths; iraqifreedom; naacp; stats; war
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FYI
1 posted on 04/12/2003 5:32:41 AM PDT by GailA
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2 posted on 04/12/2003 5:33:32 AM PDT by Support Free Republic (Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
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To: mhking
ping
3 posted on 04/12/2003 5:36:00 AM PDT by netmilsmom (Bush/Rice 2004- pray & fast for our troops this lent)
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To: GailA
"African Americans are, relatively speaking, over-represented in the military. But the real point of the spear, groups like Special Ops, are almost lily white," Segal said.

Is Segal implying some sort of nefarious discrimination schemes here, or what?

I'd like to know just why any of this matters to The Commercial Appeal?

Forty years ago, the de-segregation warriors such as MLK and Jesse Jackson at least in his own mind) were talking about their desire for a colorblind society. How can there be a colorblind society when this sort of nonsense is continually made much of?

4 posted on 04/12/2003 5:42:33 AM PDT by jimtorr
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To: GailA
It was just a matter of time before the race card was used, now we know how. These people make me want to puke. And am I the only one tired of all the coverage on looting? Even FOX is overdoing it.
5 posted on 04/12/2003 5:43:14 AM PDT by OneVike
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To: GailA
Jesse Jackson will be pimping this story before noon eastern time.
6 posted on 04/12/2003 5:43:18 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (Saddam is a dead man)
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To: jimtorr
How can there be a colorblind society when this sort of nonsense is continually made much of?

Colorblindness doesn't pay.

7 posted on 04/12/2003 5:44:57 AM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: GailA
This constant obsession with race in all affairs is becoming more than just annoying, it is becoming boring.
8 posted on 04/12/2003 5:45:25 AM PDT by Blennos (hoste, opto ut seis felicior.)
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To: GailA
Nearly 100 per cent of the KIA American soldiers were men

Now the race flap will be brought out.

9 posted on 04/12/2003 5:46:00 AM PDT by cynicom
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To: GailA
Let's see blacks comprise 20% of the military and 19.4% of the deaths. Boy, I can see what all the outrage is about.
10 posted on 04/12/2003 5:47:57 AM PDT by Always Right
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To: GailA
Uh...there's a lot left out of this story. How many were left handed? How many were short? How many were from broken homes? How many were dyslexic? How mahy knew the hearbreak of psoriasis? etc.

If we are gonna count victim groups, let's count 'em all.

11 posted on 04/12/2003 5:50:43 AM PDT by Drango (Two wrongs don't make a right...but three lefts do!)
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To: GailA
The study found the race of 19.4 percent of all fatalities in which race was able to be determined was black. African Americans represent 20 percent of all military personnel...This is exactly the quota demanded by affirmative action. The quota would not be exactly as it is supposed to be if we subtract the white dead killed by the black muslim sgt but he must have been from the naacp and knew how to keep things pc.
12 posted on 04/12/2003 5:51:58 AM PDT by RWG
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To: Tijeras_Slim
What realy gets there crank is we rescued the wrong female soldier.
13 posted on 04/12/2003 5:52:17 AM PDT by OneVike
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To: Drango
So seven more casualties were African American than might have otherwise been had we had absolute parity.

With highest respect to the lost, I ask: how is this of any meaning whatsoever? Especially given the 100 or so casualties overall? Somebody needs to learn the meaning of 'statistal sampling error' before they rant!
14 posted on 04/12/2003 5:54:49 AM PDT by homeagain balkansvet
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To: GailA
military experts warn that this is a difficult statistic to prove unofficially since ethnicity is self-defined.

Hmmmmm. We can 'define' our own ethnicity? I will have to keep that in mind when my [white] daughter applies for college.

15 posted on 04/12/2003 5:55:18 AM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
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To: GailA
Hispanic casualties, although difficult to calculate exactly, also appear to be rising

Why does the article switch from discussing fatalities to discussing casualties? Or does "casualties" mean "fatalities"?

And wouldn't including the seriously injured result in a better indicator of who is fighting in "dangerous" situations? In a given dangerous situation some soldiers die and some (though seriously injured) live.

Some soldiers in the same dangerous situation are uninjured or lightly injured, too.

16 posted on 04/12/2003 5:56:53 AM PDT by syriacus (The Palestine Hotel sniper probably used a silencer, if he had ANY brains.)
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To: Always Right
Let's see blacks comprise 20% of the military and 19.4% of the deaths. Boy, I can see what all the outrage is about.

How about an international law barring the killing of enemy forces unless it is done according to a strict racial quota...

17 posted on 04/12/2003 5:57:40 AM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
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To: GailA
The racebaiters are already out in force I c. Blacks make up 17 or 18 per cent of the military age population. I don't c any statistical aberration here. It's a volunteer army too. I wonder how much Jackson and Sharpton will demand in "reparations" for this new "outrage".
18 posted on 04/12/2003 5:58:09 AM PDT by Eternal_Bear
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To: GailA
The vast majority of people in the anti-war protest groups are white. Conclusion: the anti-war protest movement is racist.
19 posted on 04/12/2003 5:58:55 AM PDT by djpg
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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