Front-line troops disproportionately white, not black

USATODAY ^ | 1-21-2003 | Dave Moniz and Tom Squitieri

[Godel]

Senior Air Force officials say they are troubled by the number of black pilots and plan to do better. .... The reasons for the racial divide are unclear, but several theories have emerged, including lingering racism in some quarters of the military and a tendency among black recruits to choose jobs that help them find work in the civilian sector.

HAHAHAH JESUS CHRIST. I hate this. If blacks are overrepresented, we're racist. If blacks are underrepresented we're racist. It seems like blacks win and get to bash whitey either way. God damnit I hate this world.

[MissAmericanPie]

DUH, what did they do, finally look at the pictures of who is in Afghanistan?

[flamefront]

but several theories have emerged, including lingering racism in some quarters of the military

Gosh, Rangel better not look at the SEALs or other elite troops. ;-)

A lagging wave of politically correct rascist bigotry is once again coming to the military to try to force new quotas. Why don't those lugheads just come out and try for Islamic quotas too right during the war on the jihadi terrorism?

Got your Black Muslim quota yet?

[flamefront]

but several theories have emerged, including lingering racism in some quarters of the military

Gosh, Rangel better not look at the SEALs or other elite troops. ;-)

A lagging wave of politically correct rascist bigotry is once again coming to the military to try to force new quotas. Why don't those lugheads just come out and try for Islamic quotas too right during the war on the jihadi terrorism?

Got your Black Muslim quota yet?

[dennisw]

bttttttttttttttttttttt

[angkor]

"If anybody should be complaining about battlefield deaths, it is poor, rural whites," says Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University in Illinois.

It's a little bit strange that the first line in his curriculum vitae is:

"Military Service: U.S. Army Combat Engineers, 1956-1958 (draftee)"

http://www.cas.northwestern.edu/sociology/faculty/moskoscv.html

[cynicom]

I did not see it that the author was twisting anything. The facts were there and that is the salient fact. Rangel and the rest were making a race issue out of it, the author is merely stating the obvious.

[Let's Roll]

I started noticing this watching the news as the troops deployed for Aghanistan. I just literally never saw anything but white faces as they left their C130s(?) and regrouped on the tarmac etc. So then I made a point of watching for the racial makeup of these units and every once in awhile I would see a black but not often. I know that's anecdotal but so is real life.

[kabar]

The facts are just don't conform to the leftist "reality." How inconvenient. The same lies and myths concerning Vietnam (where I served 20 months) continue to be regurgitated by the "objective" media like Chris Mathews. They are meant to be divisive creating the victim mentality among minorities and making it appear that it is US policy to use the least fortunate as cannon fodder. Nothing could be further from the truth.


RACE AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND

* 88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian, 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% listed as others.
* 86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics); 12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.
* 170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.
* 86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711)were black; 1.1% belonged to other races

* 14.6% (1.530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.
* 34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.
* Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.
* Religion of Dead: Protestant--64.4%; Catholic--28.9%; other/none--6.7%.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

* 76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/ working class backgrounds.
* Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds.
* Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.
* 79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service. (63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets had completed high school upon separation).
* Deaths by region per 100,000 of population: South-31, West-29.9; Midwest-28.4; Northeast-23.5

[1rudeboy]

Can anyone point me to a credible source that establishes the black casualty-rate in Viet Nam?

[kabar]

http://www.eiis.net/cmart/vietwarstats.html

[junta]

Never mind, USA did their part in fueling the racial hysteria mania by adding the last sentence.

[1rudeboy]

thanks

[junta]

Bttt

[maxwell]

The American troops likeliest to fight and die in a war against Iraq are disproportionately white, not black, military statistics show

Huh... Now THAT'S something you're not gonna read in--

Holy Cow This is from USATODAY !

--yeah, that kinda took me aback, I was expecting NewsMax or something...

Well, at any rate, this is something you're absolutely not gonna hear from Sharpton, Jackson, Jackson-Lee, and the rest of the trailer-park trash gang...

[junta]

Probably since their sub-culture here in America most closely resembles a warrior culture they do better than most other groups. In my time in the USMC 81-85 I noticed no difference between groups, but I imagine since the Frankfurt School pacification program has targeted white kids it probably is much different today. Besides the MC enforced discipline and what a marvel it does for race relations.

[maxwell]

several theories have emerged, including lingering racism in some quarters of the military

Oh, so folks think that there should be equity in who's gonna get shot at? Hmmmm...

[rbmillerjr]

Bump for resource

[kabar]

agree. "The reasons for the racial divide are unclear, but several theories have emerged, including lingering racism in some quarters of the military and a tendency among black recruits to choose jobs that help them find work in the civilian sector."

It demeans the patriotism and self-sacrifice of African-Americans implying that they are serving for crass material reasons unlike their white counterparts. I don't find the underrepresentation in the elite and highly technical areas of the military to be all that surprising given the sad state of inner-city schools. It has less to do with racism than competence.

[timestax]

bump