Analysis: Study shows 41% drop in number of black Army recruits since 2000

[lebkuchen]

The Army’s wartime recruiting challenge is aggravated by a sharp drop in black enlistments over the last four years, which internal Army and Defense Department polls trace to an unpopular war in Iraq and concerns among blacks with Bush administration policies.

The Army is straining to meet recruiting goals in part because the number of black volunteers has fallen 41 percent — from 23.5 percent of recruits in fiscal 2000 down steadily to 13.9 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2005.

“It’s alarming,” said Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky.

No single factor explains the drop, Rochelle said, but clearly the propensity of black youth to enlist is impacted by the war and increasingly by views of parents, teachers, coaches, clergy and other “influencers.”

<cut>

Rangel said many blacks still are enticed into service by benefits and cash incentives, which are rising sharply.

“It has amazed me that, not withstanding the general feeling of the community, they still have enlisted and fought. When my outfits come home, these guys get their medals and they’re proud. But when I’m called up , they cheer and stomp their feet, knowing that I fought against the war. It’s inconsistent as hell.”


http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=27532

[WI_DEM]

1. Who can blame them?

and black recruits have made up a good share of the all-volunteer army.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. The military is growing hostile to minorities. The testimony is in

the conversations you hear from the ex-military white soldiers. They come out of their service more racists than before, and I suppose since Uncle Sam allowed them to kill dark skinned people with impunity, they probably are having trouble differentiating American blacks and other minorities from the people they killed overseas.

[Blue_Tires]

33. there was an excellent but shocking story

in the New York Times magazine (iirc) where they reported on the open racism and neo-nazism among the enlisted men at Ft. Bragg...This was not long after Oklahoma City in 1995, and I think this was the same post McVeigh was stationed at (the RW extremists on the base viewed him as a hero)

[The Backlash Cometh]

35. They are all over and you can't hear a peep from the media about it.

I began to understand why the military finds these people indispensable. An eyewitness report of the Mai lai incident revealed that the minority soldiers aimed high, rather than use their guns against women and children, but white soldiers shot them with impunity.

This is going to continue until we make an issue out of it. The fact that enlistment is down for blacks should say volumes. Why would a black man or woman want to go into the military where he'll find his worst enemy? An angry white man with a gun and an organization that would look the other way if the black soldier dies from friendly fire?

[rocktivity]

2. Blacks make up 15% of the U.S. population IIRC

Which means we're right on schedule...

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[Zynx]

39. It's actually around 12%.

[sniffa]

3. good

[GodlessBiker]

4. It's alarming?

Two answers:


1. No it isn't. African-Americans are wising up to that game.


2. What Bush is probably thinking: I suppose it's time to ditch the economy even more so they have no choice but to enlist.

[0007]

36. Squeeze the balloon on one end it gets bigger at the other end.

Watch the crime rate start to sky rocket real soon.

[lovuian]

5. 1500 people have died and tens of thousands wounded

this isn't the same atmosphere it was in the 90's when Clinton was in office!!!

[benburch]

6. They know they will be the first to be sent to get killed.

All a part of the "racial purity" and "eugenics" agenda that the Bush family has been pushing since its Nazi days.

[lebkuchen]

7. Best way to integrate an army is to have a need for boots on the ground

same for gays; may history be a warning to them.

[benburch]

8. Actually...

I think you will find that those sent to do the most dangerous fighting are NOT integrated. They are selected from minorities because the death of a minority soldier does not register as a human death with Republicans.

[lebkuchen]

9. GOP is manipulating the casualty list at all costs

no matter what the soldier's color.

Those dying upon redeployment home aren't counted on any website list I've tracked.

[rinsd]

19. You're right....

Those killed have been overwhelmingly white.

Just click the graphical breakdown link where it will provide the breakdown of US casualties by race.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/

But hey let's keep alive the myth that only minorites die in these wars in the face of contradictory facts.

[NEOBuckeye]

27. My answer to Bush Eugenics? CASTRATION of all Bush males

George W. Bush is the quintessential example as to why this family line should be cut off. He is a mad, smirking chimp, which proves that his family's genes are deteriorating. We cannot jeopardise the future of the human race by allowing it to be run by arrogant, degenerate primates. Therefore, all males in the Bush family must immediately have their testicles removed.

Problem solved.

[reprobate]

40. Yes. And the Bush family is the perfect arguement for retroactive abortion

[Blue_Tires]

10. who wants to die in the war based on a lie?

[lebkuchen]

13. Especially if "your kind" already died in Vietnam, to "free" others

at a time when brothers and sisters were subjected to a lifestyle rife with segregation, discrimination, and harrassment.

[CitySky]

11. "No single factor explains the drop"

I --- Hmm? What could ----- I
R ----- explain this? ------- R
A ---- Must be awfully ----- A
Q ------ complicated... ---- Q


Hell-OOO! We have 1,500 dead so far, thousands more maimed, in an unjust war. Do they think people are stupid?

[Kimber Scott]

20. Yes, they do. nt

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

41. Yes, it is like "Hello Captain Obvious" isn't it. n/t

[okieinpain]

12. they are all in jail

[lebkuchen]

14. You've predicted Bush's next "big idea"

Black inmates will be freed if they sign up for an infantry division, complete w/multiple tours. The $250/mo bonus stands.

[okieinpain]

18. there you go, and they also won't be able to vote because they

are ex-felons.

[HereSince1628]

15. Oh-oh the Army sees me as an influencer.

That bill limiting what political speech can be used in class should be examined carefully.

How much you want to bet it is now a crime to "discourage" kids from enlisting?

[Ms. Clio]

16. Those mysterious "other influencers"

the propensity of black youth to enlist is impacted by the war and increasingly by views of parents, teachers, coaches, clergy and other “influencers.”

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

[AndyTiedye]

22. It Means They're Not Brainwashed Yet

But they are working on it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1638143

[Ms. Clio]

30. Thanks for the link--that's very sobering information

Outright bribery, and by people who almost certainly do not have the best interests of the black community at heart.

[hadrons]

17. African-Americans are wising up as some said ....

good for them

[justjones]

21. You would think that we would sign up in droves....

if our so-called propensity to want to kill ourselves via "black-on-black" crime were true, because all I see Bush doing starting these wars is killing brown people and stealing their resources.

The fact is black folks may not be fully aware of their actions being detrimental to our own communities, but it takes on a whole different light when we see Bush doing it. If he keeps this shit up, I predict there will be no black recruits.

[happyslug]

23. When I was in the Guard in the 1980s, the Blacks in the regular Army were

much better than whites of the same rank. Both Whites and Blacks were competent to do the job, but as a whole the blacks were better.

Now among the National Guard he opposite was true but that reflected that most of the Guardsmen had been in the Guard since the Draft when many blacks did not join or could not join for various reasons. Again all of the people were competent it was just the Whites were better than the Blacks in the Guard and this was strange given the superiority of the Blacks over Whites of the same rank in the Regular forces.

Why this was true I can not say, just an observation, but it seems from this article that Blacks are NOT enlisting a much as their use to and I suspect it is the Blacks that were the superior NCOs and Officers that are NOT enlisting.

[Jacobin]

25. Easy answer

They don't buy the bullshit from Washington.

Aren't as easily duped by propaganda on tv as white folks.

[DeaconBlues]

26. Good for young African-Americans

They didn't vote for George W. Bush, why the Hell should they die for him?

[NEOBuckeye]

29. When Bush and Cheney get on the front lines like Aragorn and LEAD a charge

That is when I will enlist in the Army.

Until then, those stupid shit-hearted old men can go fuck themselves.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

43. That about sums it up in one sweet sentence. Nice.

[NNN0LHI]

28. Calling all rednecks. Unca Dick wants you n/t

[Toots]

31. Down to 13.9%

That is still a higher percentage of blacks enlisting than the percentage of blacks to whites in America. When they were at 23.5% that is about double the percent blacks in America.

[BrotherBuzz]

32. I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong

- Muhammad Ali

[Bouncy Ball]

34. Hell's bells, that's some of the best news I've heard all day.

GOOD. GOOD for African-Americans for just saying no to the military, especially under bush and his wacked out evil fucking ways.

Poor people of all color have been turning to the military as a last resort for too long. There's nothing inherently wrong (per se) with joining the military (says the veteran's wife) IF the military is used in a judicious, proper, moral manner. But we know how well THAT'S been going lately.

Sounds like African-Americans see the writing on the wall, know what time it is, insert another cliche here.

Good, I say. I hope those numbers keep dropping. I only wish it was because there were so many other options for young black people in this country. It doesn't. Just means they are rejecting military service at higher rates.

[leftchick]

37. Number of black Army recruits declining

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/03/05/news/columnists/philpott/3405184934.txt

The Army's wartime recruiting challenge is aggravated by a sharp drop in black enlistments in the last four years, which internal Army and Defense Department polls trace to an unpopular war in Iraq and concerns among blacks with Bush administration policies.

The Army strains to meet recruiting goals in part because black volunteers have fallen 41 percent ---- from 23.5 percent of recruits in fiscal 2000 down steadily to 13.9 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2005.

"It's alarming,'' said Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky. and one of the Army's most senior black officers, No single factor explains the drop, Rochelle added, but clearly the propensity of black youth to enlist is impacted by the war and increasingly by views of parents, teachers, coaches, clergy and other "influencers.''


Officer recruiting is hit too. The number of blacks enrolled in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps program is down 36 percent since 2001.Ý

The Marine Corps also reports a drop in black recruits but their recruit racial data is now suspect because of a government policy, effective Jan. 1, 2003, that allows recruits and all new federal workers to decline to identify their race. The Army has found a way to continue to track accurately its racial data, said S. Douglas Smith, spokesman for the recruiting command.

[American Tragedy]

38. Great news.

I would hope that the propensity of both black and white men and women to enlist is impacted by the war and the views of parents, teachers, coaches, clergy and other “influencers".

[Career Prole]

42. “It’s alarming,” said Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle,

"They're smarter than we gave them credit for."

I've got two words for you, Mikey...and they're both "ha".

[barbaraann]

44. "other influencers" = rappers

There is a lot of anti-Bush/GOP/war sentiment in rap music.

[GOPBasher]

45. That makes sense.

I think the view is that, since the Iraq War started, they're no longer fighting for "America," but for Bush himself. Why fight for a commander in chief you don't like?