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African-Americans Are Highly Visible in the Military, but Almost Invisible at the Top
The New York Times ^ | May 25, 2020 | Helene Cooper

Posted on 05/25/2020 10:19:16 AM PDT by GuavaCheesePuff

WASHINGTON — A photograph of President Trump and his top four-star generals and admirals, tweeted in October by Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, was meant as a thank-you to the commander in chief. But it angered a lot of others, and not just those who erupted on Twitter.

“You would have thought it was 1950,” said Lt. Col. Walter J. Smiley Jr., who is African-American and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring last year after 25 years in the Army. Dana Pittard, a retired major general, also African-American, was equally frustrated. “It’s America’s military,” he said. “Why doesn’t this photo look like America?”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: New York
KEYWORDS: armedforces; danapittard; helenecooper; marktesper; military; newyork; newyorkcity; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; race; twitter; walterjsmileyjr
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1 posted on 05/25/2020 10:19:16 AM PDT by GuavaCheesePuff
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

Getting educated helps.


2 posted on 05/25/2020 10:22:02 AM PDT by notaliberal (St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle,)
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

Because in a meritocracy, individuals have to struggle to climb up the ladder. It’s not supposed to look like a society where the biggest struggle is to simply be born.


3 posted on 05/25/2020 10:22:03 AM PDT by Bogey78O (So far so good.)
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

The nominee for next Air Force chief of staff is a black man.


4 posted on 05/25/2020 10:22:22 AM PDT by pfflier
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Education, dip sticks...


5 posted on 05/25/2020 10:22:46 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (Some of the folks around these parts have been sniffing super flu.)
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

What race is the current U.S. Surgeon General again???


6 posted on 05/25/2020 10:24:01 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

The NYT is determined to slam the military during this Memorial Day weekend.


7 posted on 05/25/2020 10:25:19 AM PDT by Mercat
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To: DoughtyOne

Naw man...you gotta have one or two from each category don’t ya know. Its pc over quality my man. THATS what’s important.

These people are insane


8 posted on 05/25/2020 10:25:53 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: Bogey78O

Color Powell was Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Blacks are about 10% of the population so Among top ranking military I would expect 10%.


9 posted on 05/25/2020 10:28:10 AM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
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To: V_TWIN

Yeah, I hear ya. When the chips are down, let’s have a
tenth grade graduate running things.

The military is an escape for some people. I value the
service at the capacity they are trained for, but we both
agree certain positions require an education.

And I’m not talking affirmative action degrees either.

We’ve seen what those have done for our government and
courthouses.

I know you were jesting.


10 posted on 05/25/2020 10:29:47 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (Some of the folks around these parts have been sniffing super flu.)
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To: V_TWIN

And the Secretary of HUD, and one of the better Supreme Court Justices . . .?


11 posted on 05/25/2020 10:30:45 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (Three most annoying words on the internet - "Watch the video")
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

When I was in the Navy, a 20 year career that ended 22 years ago, affirmative action, both race and sex based, would run you over, smash you like a bug, and never look back. It would take too long to cite examples. I doubt that that has changed.


12 posted on 05/25/2020 10:31:22 AM PDT by suthener
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

First of all; this just isn’t true.

Second of all skin color should never be used as a metric for advancement.

Promoting to the level of incompetence is a civil service thing; not a military thing.

Promoting obama to the WH was proof of that.


13 posted on 05/25/2020 10:31:55 AM PDT by Boomer (Dems are a leftist plague of hate, fake news, and disinformation aka liars.)
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

There are not nearly as many black soldiers as there were back in the day before the Iraq war. Back then it was supposed that any soldier would do. Now they want people who can fight or work a computer or even fix a truck. Judges can no longer send the army a bunch of losers who chose army or jail.


14 posted on 05/25/2020 10:33:38 AM PDT by poinq
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

How many real NY Slimes editors are African American?


15 posted on 05/25/2020 10:34:43 AM PDT by Grampa Dave ( The CHICOM/PRCNN, controllers of America's Fake news media, CDCNN, WHO, are the Deep Staters!))
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To: GuavaCheesePuff
Maybe DOD should introduce the Rooney Rule to decide who can be a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

We need the very best no matter what the race, ethnicity, creed, or gender. The military is one of the most fair organizations we have in terms of employment.

It is election time and the NYT must stir up racial hatred and division so the Dems can energize its base. Blame it all on Trump.

16 posted on 05/25/2020 10:36:13 AM PDT by kabar
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

So these people are all about quotas even though they say they aren’t. So they’re liars. Sounds so Leftist....


17 posted on 05/25/2020 10:36:41 AM PDT by jeffc (The U.S. media are our enemy)
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To: DoughtyOne

I just retired from the DoD after a 30 year career in support of the US Naval aviation Warfighter and I can tell you the “one from every category” hiring policy is alive and well my friend. The negative production hit that facility takes because of that is staggering. The money and time wasted....well you get the idea. I could go on and on.


18 posted on 05/25/2020 10:37:54 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: Grampa Dave

Great question.. It looks like there are a lot of Blacks with fairly impressive rank. https://www.theroot.com/call-of-duty-17-top-black-military-officers-1790868526


19 posted on 05/25/2020 10:38:13 AM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
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To: GuavaCheesePuff

I like to use the example

If you don’t put in 30, chances are you are not going to get ‘a lot’ of stars on your uniform.

And even then, very few are promoted to the 4 star rank.


20 posted on 05/25/2020 10:38:16 AM PDT by xrmusn (6/98"HRC is the Grandmother that lures Hansel & Gretel to the pot")
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