Along with the esteem and credibility this administration has cost us in the world, will it also end African Americans’ storied role in the armed forces? Blacks are fleeing in droves from the recruiters’ offices they once thronged. According to the Boston Globe:
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.
No other groups’ enlistment figures have dropped more. No wonder, with 83% of the black community opposing the war and this administration. One has to wonder about the long term implications most, though. The military, for all its racial problematics (which the article thoroughly lays out) has long been the black and working class safety valve; if you couldn’t go to college, you could serve your country, be respected, and make a good living. You could help out the folks back home and make yourself much more employable after either a hitch or a career. One can only wonder how this turn of events will affect already bad black socio-economics and even crime rates because it’s doubtful that the majority of those blacks who pass on the uniform will either head off for college or a high paying job. We’ll all be dealing with the ripple effects of the Bush years for a long, long time.
