Video: African-Americans Decline to Fight?
Casualties by Ethinicity
Marine Demographics
Military Sees Big Decline In Black Enlistees
Iraq war cited in 58% drop since 2000
By Joseph Williams and Kevin Baron, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent
WASHINGTON - African-Americans, whose longstanding relationship with the US military helped them prove their abilities and offered a way to get ahead, have turned away from the armed forces in record numbers since 2000, a period covering the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the start of the Iraq war.
Defense Department statistics show the number of young black enlistees has fallen by more than 58 percent since fiscal year 2000. The Army in particular has been hit hard: In fiscal year 2000, according to the Pentagon statistics, more than 42,000 black men and women applied to enlist; in fiscal year 2005, the most recent for which a racial breakdown is available, just over 17,000 signed up.
The unpopular Iraq war is the biggest reason, according to military analysts, Pentagon surveys, and interviews with young African-Americans. But they say mistrust of the Bush administration is adding to the problem - along with the notion that black soldiers are being steered to combat jobs, a lingering perception from the Vietnam War.
The decline in enlistment applications among blacks is by far the fastest of any demographic group. Between fiscal 2000 and 2005, white applicants declined by more than 10 percent. Hispanic applicants dropped by almost 7 percent.
The Army Recruiting Command acknowledged that the Iraq war has presented special challenges in the African-American community, but said it continues to reach out to black recruits.
“The main thing everyone has to realize is that an all-volunteer force is just that,” said S. Douglas Smith, public affairs officer for the US Army Recruiting Command. “We try to make sure we communicate to every part of society and let them know what we have to offer. We try to be as open as we can about the risk of service and the benefits of service. After that, it’s a matter of people choosing if they want to come in and serve.”
But some military specialists worry that the trend could persist long after the current administration and war are over.
“African-Americans have been such a key part of the modern military,” said Michael O’Hanlon, military analyst for the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. “There’s obviously been a degree where the black community in the United States has seen [military service] as culturally valuable and promoted it. That whole culture and value system is at risk in the black community. That is a big, big change. To me, it portends the possibility of a longer-term loss of interest. It can be tough to get it back.”
Interviews with young African-Americans confirmed a lack of faith in the president and the war.
Nathaniel Daley, a young African-American from Atlantic City, N.J., said he doesn’t believe in the Iraq war and won’t enlist because of it. Daley, 28, and two friends, Brian Jackson, 27, and Eddie Mickle Jr., 26, talked one recent afternoon at the Pentagon City Mall in Arlington, Va., a vast shopping complex just blocks from the military’s nerve center. As they talked, uniformed servicemen and women, some wearing battle fatigues, passed by.
In high school during the late 1990s, Daley said, he signed a letter of intent to join the Army upon graduation, “to pay for my college, get a better job, and better myself.” He said he broke that commitment for a higher-paying job at a nearby casino.
Though the Army would likely consider them ideal recruits - young, fit, high school-educated - each said the Iraq war and Bush’s presidency, particularly after the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005, has kept them out of uniform.
“Why would we go over there and help them [Iraqis], when [the US government] can’t help us over here?” he said, referring to the cleanup after Katrina.
The war “is unnecessary,” Jackson said. “It’s not our war. We got our own war here, just staying alive,” he added, noting his hometown of Philadelphia has racked up more than 200 homicides so far this year, most involving young black men.
Eager to bolster its stretched-thin ranks - and meet a congressional mandate to increase its force by about 65,000 troops within five years - the Army has launched an aggressive recruiting campaign targeted at young black people like Daley and his friends, with ads featuring a young black man convincing his parents that enlistment is a good choice. The Army has also raised its enlistment bonuses, highlighted its access to college tuition money, and loosened its age and physical fitness standards.
But Damon Wright, a senior at Anacostia High School in Southeast Washington, was not impressed. “There’s no guarantee I wouldn’t have to go over there,” he said. “I’m trying to play football in college. I might go over there and lose a leg.”
The Pentagon and military analysts say the downturn in enlistments partly reflects the fact that young African-Americans have broader options, pointing to the growing number of black students in college. But the decrease in enlistment also comes amid high dropout rates among African-American youths and a 7.7 percent unemployment rate in the black community, almost twice that of whites.
Negative opinions about Iraq - and attitudes like Wright’s - have overshadowed the military’s efforts to highlight the positives about military service.
A recent CBS News poll showed 83 percent of African-American respondents said the Iraq invasion was a mistake. In addition, the president’s approval rating has hit rock-bottom with black voters at about 9 percent, according to a 2006 Pew Research Center poll.
The relationship between African-Americans and military service is complex, dating back to the 1700s. Both freedmen and slaves joined colonists in the fight against British rule. A century later, the all-black corps known as the Buffalo Soldiers helped settle the West.
Meanwhile, during the Civil War, black Union regiments won acclaim for heroism. In World War I, more than 350,000 black troops served in segregated Army units but few were allowed to fight, dashing hopes that courage under fire in Europe would help them defeat Jim Crow laws at home.
In World War II, African-Americans were again assigned mostly to support duty, but they made up 75 percent of truck drivers for the Red Ball Express - a dangerous, nonstop supply convoy that fueled General George H. Patton’s sweep across Europe.
When President Harry S. Truman desegregated the military in 1948, African-Americans saw the Army as a key avenue for advancement. Joining up became “a way out of a worse situation,” said Gregory A. Black, a retired Navy dive commander and creator of blackmilitaryworld.com, a website devoted to the history of African-Americans and the military.
By the Vietnam War, the Army had a full complement of black combat troops, including Colin Powell, who did two combat tours as a captain and major and later became secretary of state. But civil-rights leaders complained about the disproportionately high casualty rate among black soldiers, arguing that the Pentagon was drafting young black men and sending them directly into combat.
“A lot of African-Americans are still messed up over Vietnam,” said Black. Yet Defense Department statistics show African-American soldiers today are more likely to work in clerical or support jobs than fight on the front lines.
Despite the sharp decline in enlistments, the percentage of blacks in the military still slightly exceeds that of the general population: 14.5 percent in the military, as of 2005, versus 12.8 percent in the US population. Nonetheless, recent Pentagon-sponsored surveys suggest that attitudes among military-age African-Americans may have changed for good.
Adult influencers of all youths, such as parents, sports coaches, or mentors, say Iraq makes them less likely to recommend military service, according to Pentagon surveys. Of all racial groups, African-American influencers are the least likely to suggest enlistment, according to the surveys.
At Oxon Hill High School, located in a predominantly black Washington suburb, guidance counselor Kabir Tompkins is also an Army National Guard sergeant wounded in Iraq. He tells interested students the Army can lead to better life: a good salary, health benefits, and tens of thousands of dollars for college. But their parents are harder to convince, he said.
“They see it from the aspect of . . . ‘I don’t care about the benefits, I don’t care about the money, I don’t care about nothing. I don’t want my child going to Iraq,’ ” Tompkins said.
Lieutenant Colonel Irving Smith, a sociologist at the US Military Academy at West Point, isn’t surprised the war “has had its toll” on black enlistment. But Smith, who is black, said he fears that a proud legacy of black men and women is at risk, and could be lost in a generation.
“We fought for many reasons, we enlisted for many reasons,” Smith said. “Particularly in early times, we fought because we thought we’d get all the opportunities of citizenship . . . The fewer African-Americans that enlist, the fewer African-Americans there are that can tell their stories in the future. The fewer that get commissioned as officers, the smaller the leadership pool will be in the future.”
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I can attest to this. My mom threw a fit when I brought up the idea of becoming a Marine when I graduated high school in 2005. It was just last month I was able to actually convince her to support my decision and the reasoning behind it.
October 7th, 2007 at 7:23 pmNot our finest hour, that bag of puss wants college money and to leave the house well I’m glad he didn’t sign any papers. I signed the papers to kick down the door not to get out of the house. I deal with fuck-tards such as this all day at my college oh well. Gods honest truth there are an assload of athletes running about in the black community but very few true warriors. The proof is in the pudding.
October 7th, 2007 at 7:31 pmI see no problem with the military providing incentives for people to recruit. Aside from the experience you gain in the military, it’s perfectly fine if they want to provide money for college or grad school as well as help out with loans. However, what is not ok is the people who only sign up for this and then complain when they have to go fight.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:54 pmA nation cannot long survive if the citizens are unwilling to fight to defend it. I worry about the future of our country with so many people who are unwilling to do anything to keep it together.
October 7th, 2007 at 8:56 pm“Gods honest truth there are an assload of athletes running about in the black community but very few true warriors. The proof is in the pudding.”
Very few true leaders either.
October 7th, 2007 at 9:28 pmJesse Jackson. Al Sharpton. Louis Farrakhan.
Don’t need terrorists when these guys are around.
I’d come up with a much bigger list but….don’t have the time.
The democrats that are using the black community like toilet paper are not helping much either.
All part of their plan I suppose.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:05 pm““Why would we go over there and help them [Iraqis], when [the US government] can’t help us over here?” he said, referring to the cleanup after Katrina.”
Isnt this just what a liberal would say. Apparently, the media only talks to liberal blacks. even one guy admitted he was looking to enter exclusively for the benefits. Does anyone ever consider The JFK reason” Ask not what your country can do for you.
The libtard blacks like jesse and company constantly tell them how to think, and patriotism is a dying commopdity in the black community. In the 40’s blacks faced greater persecution and discrimination, yet they werer amongst the most patriotic troops we had.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:10 pmWait a damn second. Weren’t these people just recently bitching that there were to many Blacks and minorities in the military?
Rangel’s own words on the www.house.gov site:
http://www.house.gov/list/press/ny15_rangel/DailyNewsOpEd.html
The disproportionately high representation of the poor and minorities in the enlisted ranks is well documented. Minorities comprise 35 percent of the military and Blacks 20 percent, well above their proportion of the general population.
Fuck these people and their social engineering and their not-so-hidden agendas. Leave the military alone, go play your political games with the girl scouts.
All I have to say is “WTF.”
October 7th, 2007 at 10:16 pmAbsolutely 100% true…they keep a democratic vote as long as your dependent on them… its disingenuous but the Dems sophistically sell the welfare mentallity in so many ways, people become brainwashed.
Iggy your a smart Marine. Keep up the good work.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:43 pmIt is very telling that the Dems try to smear the military any way they can. Race and finances always come into play. I have been listening to them say how the poor and minorities are targeted for some time now. That just isn’t the case. Thank you for posting the real numbers for us. It is interesting to say the least.
Great vid Iggy.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:37 pm“Isnt this just what a liberal would say. Apparently, the media only talks to liberal blacks. even one guy admitted he was looking to enter exclusively for the benefits. Does anyone ever consider The JFK reason” Ask not what your country can do for you.
The libtard blacks like jesse and company constantly tell them how to think, and patriotism is a dying commopdity in the black community. In the 40’s blacks faced greater persecution and discrimination, yet they werer amongst the most patriotic troops we had. :oops:”
Yeah, unfortunately everyone’s lost their way. As I mentioned above, there are a lack of true leaders. A few of us actually have a mind on our shoulders to think for ourselves, but the rest are too busy looking at BET or stabbing each other in the back and hating “The Man”, as they term it.
This is a result of many black folks growing up without fathers. A lot of societal issues, one of which is the fucking welfare system. Why work when everything is handed to you?
October 8th, 2007 at 12:04 amWhy do Blacks want to be a member of a party that wanted to keep them in slavery.The governors in the south when the civil rights protest and riots were going on during the sixties were all democrats. The plantation owners were southern democrats. When the slaves were given their freedom the plantation master asked the slaves to stay with him and he would take care of them because they would never make it on their own. To this day the democrats are still telling them that and the majority of blacks are still feeding into it.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:13 amSo, who are the real uncle Toms today? I can tell you who isn’t. Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, JC Watts for starters.
As far as Katrina goes. The federal government wasn’t the problem as much as the local and state government. The feds couldn’t do anything until the local and state government gave them the go a head. By that time it was to late.
This is what happens when people depend on the drive-by media for their news. They come out looking as dumb as a box of shit.
This is always such a touchy subject and since Future 0311 posts here I hoped I would be able to comment without you thinking I was a racist. Just tales from the front seat of the taxi. And, I’m going to be blunt. Fifty percent of the population in the back seat was black. The same dumb shit I heard coming out of the mouths of the grandparents back in ‘75 was the same dumb shit I heard coming out of the mouths of the grandchildren in ‘02. When I hung up my keys in Nov ‘02 I said, “I don’t have to listen to dumb shit anymore”. You get the feeling that many wake up everyday and start the day blaming whites for the fact that they have to get up and the day is all down hill from there. Let’s trot out Katrina. After a five day warning the choclate mayor couldn’t get it together, even turning down AMTRAK’s off of trains to help with evacuation, not to mention all the buses we saw submerged in flood water. Marshalling the public transportation system of New Orleans and everything else available all he had to do was get them up to Alexandria, Louisiana, Camp Beuregard, 100 miles north to wait it out. The collapse of the levees would not have been as tragic if this simple evacuation had been done. Now, they couldn’t get it together to get everybody out of town but, they were able to send buses to Houston, Dallas and Atlanta to pick up everyone to bring them back for one day to New Orleans on election day. They voted him back in. People went ballistic when Fox of Mexico said, “our illegals do what your blacks won’t even do”. A bit of a stretch but a bit of truth. All of those entry level jobs so many think they’re too good to do those jobs until something better comes along are all done by 12 million illegals. But, so many blacks say that there’re no jobs. As we see on Maury Povich, yes, about three years ago I used to watch. Did that for a year, until I got cable. Anyway, it doesn’t speak for all, but we see the extreme sampling that gives the impression that many would rather be crotch grabbing baby daddy. The Justice Brothers have been elevated and accomplished blacks mentioned by someone above are sidelined and marginalized by many blacks. We’ve all heard of the “No Snitch” policy. They sell t-shirts with the international ‘no’ symbol on them stating that. We have a dress policy that is for giving the impression of street cred. In jail they take away belts and shoe laces as a precaution in case someone wants to hang themselves. Without the belt the pants droop. Kids would rather imitate jailed criminals. “See, the man took my belt”. For a while I saw a style of walk that tried to imitate walking with shackles on their feet. I saw it for a while driving the cab in Buffalo. Within a thirty mile radius of City Hall here in Philadelphia, where I started my taxi driving career back in ‘75, continued until ‘81, 90% of the daily shootings are in West and North Philadelphia. You get the impression that many would rather be in jail and shooting each other everyday. Some reports are that jails have become radicalized mosques and are breeding jailhouse muslims. Lastest sampling. It’s been on national news. The shooter of those two armored car guards, retired Philadelphia cops working on a second career. Murdered execution style by a former Leroy or Tyrone that had done time in the ’90s for bank robbery. While incarcerated he did his studies, took on an arabic name. I know I’m not speaking about all but, these extreme samplings in the amount they occur really skews the population. There’s a sickness in the black population that spills over into the entire black population. Just some of my personal observations while over a thirty year span starting in ‘75 and ending in ‘02 for eighteen years drove around in the middle of it all. I did it all with my eyes open and I have a color TV. It’s not my fault.
October 8th, 2007 at 2:51 amDamn I’m tired of this race shit. Look, when you take the ASVAB test, that is what determines what potential you have.
A high GT score gets you more opportunities. A lower GT score gets you fewer opportunities.
Race hasn’t a fucking to do with nothing. The military could care less about your race.
These fucking civilians haven’t a damn clue and should just
STFU.
Opportunity abounds in the military for anyone who is willing to apply themselves, no matter who you are or where you come from.
October 8th, 2007 at 4:14 am“Why would we go over there and help them [Iraqis], when [the US government] can’t help us over here?” he said, referring to the cleanup after Katrina.”
- Nathaniel Daley
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
October 8th, 2007 at 4:26 am- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
maybe they all have gone to new orleans to build houses,,
October 8th, 2007 at 6:12 amIf most blacks (and I refuse to use that PC shit African-American) don’t want to join a volunteer force, so be it. For many of them, it will prove to be a missed opportunity. I know that for me personally, one of my greatest regrets is not being smart enough as a teenager to join something and do something greater than self. The military is more than a war machine. It gives mostly males a chance to find themselves, to determine a purpose, some earned self respect, and if one plays their cards right an opportunity to do something constructive with the rest of their lives.
See, the older I’ve gotten the more I realize irrespective of race or creed, each segment has its good and bad. Clarence Thomas has been one of the few men in the public spotlight I really admire and have long thought that way before it was popular to do so. When he dressed down liberal, lilly white Senators during the Anita Hill fiasco, I thought it one of America’s finest moments. Some poor, black kid who had become a man, achieved what few dreamed, and telling the real racists, those that hold black America captive only requiring their services every two years to vote, go piss up a rope. Unfortunately, only a few noticed what had just happened and how far America had come from Jim Crow. Worse, most of black America considered Thomas an Uncle Tom.
Well, here’s one white man willing to tell you the truth and really doesn’t give a damn what you think of him. The bullshit that has become this perpetual victimhood in the black community is nothing but a crutch. If we have to blame somebody in the gov’t for the fault of Katrina, let’s put the blame where it really belongs. 70 years of local and state gov’t corruption in Gomorrah leads to incompetence and breached levees, lack of an emergency plan, and little chance of quick recovery. You need to blame someone, you can start with Huey Long and work your way up. Meteorologists had warned you for years New Orleans wouldn’t survive a catastrophic hurricane. Few listened.
You and your elected officials were asleep at the switch with your thumb in your collective ass. Many of you had 96 hours notice and did nothing to help your loved ones or yourself, waiting for daddy Fed to come take care of you. You experienced that the government, fed state local, is not as capable as your elected officials have led you to believe and now you want that same incompetence to wipe your your tears and make everything better. Keeping pulling that Dimocratic lever and you will continue to find yourself a perpetual victim. You seem to enjoy it.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:44 am@Grumpy
Wait a damn second. Weren’t these people just recently bitching that there were to many Blacks and minorities in the military?
——————————————-
Damn right, Grumpy. As usual, they shift the facts and tone to suit their agenda.
Let’s see, poor blacks joining the military and learning to help themselves build a future while defending the country …
Or poor blacks joining a gang and/or drug dealing ring, stealing, killing, getting killed or shipped off to prison …
WORD TO THE MEDIA AND LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: NOT everyone is college material … Why? Beacuse they many have been pretty much slackers during primary and high school, promoted “socially” through the ranks just to make *gasp* quota (not in all schools … but you know of what I speak). If you keep insisting blacks who join the military have no other options then take YOUR fucking teachers unions by the neck and MAKE THEM TEACH the damn fundamental basics so the “poor” and “poor blacks” CAN become college material!
Do the fucking science.
October 8th, 2007 at 7:01 amLots of great comments here.
I am most disturbed by this culture of people, of all creeds, willing to live off government assistance with no intention of doing anything for our society… with the public service of smoking up enough crack and shooting enough meth to limit our children’s access. And for this, I am grateful.
In my profession, I see people everyday who come to the hospital for their (medicaid) free care. For example, I saw a two ton tess and her three ton boyfriend (one white, one black) waiting in the ER the other evening. Flashing their “Missouri Matercard,” as we nurses call it. The obese folks had an “emergency,” but sat there drinking Pepsi and eating chips and bullchit… allowing children to run around wild the entire time. I couldn’t help but look at these children and feel sorry that these were their role models. It was pitiful, you all. Truly pitiful.
I’m so terribly disgusted by so many of the people in our country. This “something for nothing” attitude is what leads to socialism. These people are not just black, they are a subdivion of every culture in America. The general population has unleased a cancer that has metastisized through our country. The possible decline in minority military recruits is only a symptom of the underlying stains on the fabric of our nation that won’t ever be “shouted out.”
I only attempt to mentor younger disadvantaged people. To show them hard work can make you feel good about yourself, and accomplishment is not just an idea.
October 8th, 2007 at 8:42 amDaley said he signed a letter of intent while attending high school in the late 90’s and he’s blaming not enlisting on the Iraq war and Katrina which happened years later? Sorry, but I think the signs indicate he got scared off after 9/11 and the thought of actually fighting. It really doesn’t matter what your race is, if there are people like this who are afraid of combat, they don’t need to be fighting anyway.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:33 amCunningham: No worries. I actually agree with you. I’ve seen a lot too. All I have to do is walk outside. I see much of the same shit you just described. They look up to these rappers, many of who are known criminals, and they attempt to imitate them by doing the same shit. Sagging pants (last I heard, that’ll get you assraped in prison), these big ass oversized rims on the cars that you just know someone else is eyeing, selling drugs, shooting each other over the color of the clothes they’re wearing, sitting around on corners drinking beer, large crowds of cretins at the liquor store, all of them blaming their “plight” on the white man.
I could go on forever.
“Steve in NC
“Why would we go over there and help them [Iraqis], when [the US government] can’t help us over here?” he said, referring to the cleanup after Katrina.”
- Nathaniel Daley
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy”
Typical ignorance. He should’ve known that the state and local governments (which happened to be run by Democrats, no less) were responsible for not averting that catastrophe, not the federal government.
Many blacks are selfish like that. No loyalty to the nation; they’re only interested in what they can gain from it. That is why many of them are so receptive to welfare and Hillarycare.
Don’t feel bad. They don’t have that loyalty toward anybody - they attempt to get everything they can out of anybody. It is despicable.
October 8th, 2007 at 12:12 pmI did it all with my eyes open and I have a color TV. It’s not my fault.
the color box works well
October 8th, 2007 at 1:51 pmWhat are the numbers for minorities in the other services, I thought I read that minorities were were still enlisting in the Navy and Air Force at the same rate if not higher, wouldn’t that mean they support the war?
October 8th, 2007 at 4:17 pmAs far as the Al Sharpton gang of leeches go, they are more like Yassir Arafat to the Palestinians. They are completely disconnected from the people they claim to champion, and the only reason they get involved is to boost their own ego and legitimize their self-importance. Self-indulgent activism just to see THEIR face on TV and in the news, not for the sake of the people who are actually doing the suffering. Shame…
As far as minorities go, I am not including Hispanics - because those numbers would cloud the numbers in the article, and take away from the demographic group in discussion. Also, the “Hispanic” count is a bit off because they have a hard time differentiating from Latinos, Caribbean, Mexican, and South American. They are not always “all inclusive”. Never the less, the Latino/Hispanic community is a strong contributor to the military.
Oddly enough these are the same guys who are “stealing” our jobs (that could be filled by poor people) and standing on the side of the road looking for honest work, rather than sit at home and collect a paycheck based on pity. Like them or not, for the most part, these guys bust their ass. Go figure…
October 8th, 2007 at 5:33 pmFuture 0311, please don’t think I have a fixation with guy’s pants, but, let me say this one thing and I’ll let it go. When people are incarcerated and are pre-trial they would more likely than not be in street clothes. Hence the droopy pants. If pre-trial seems to be going to be a while or after conviction you would be clothed in the orange jump suit, or something similar. The idea I stated as the catalyst for the droopy pants would add street cred and very easily transfer to the street. One has to put on the hard face in jail and definitely on the street. The idea behind the “fashion” you stated and I’ve heard from others I think originated well after the “fashion” became popular and is an effort to embarrass and shame them into voluntarily pull their fucking pants up. It’s difficult to figure the origin of urban-legends.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:10 amHeh, never actually thought about that. It’s still pretty gay. I’m pretty sure no straight man wants to see six inches of another guy’s underwear.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:48 amOne more thing, even though I’m pretty sure nobody’s reading this anymore (lol): A friend of mine has a 12-year-old brother that looks up to me. I’m teaching him how to be a man, how to be a leader, at least as much as I’ve learned anyway. I’m more of a father to him than his own father (who is absent most of the time) is.
October 10th, 2007 at 6:22 pm