Andy writes:
> Kellley described it well: I don't think you can
overemphasize the lure of the promises of training,
money and gettin' out of dodge esp. if your propects
are drab.
Very true. Even my dear, sweet, gender non-conforming husband nearly ended up in the navy. For young Black men there are very few alternatives.
Kelley writes:
> They want what you have: a decent job, an affordable
roof over their heads, health and retirement benefits, an
opportunity to get out of a small town, the chance to learn,
and a sense of meaning and purpose in their life.
Exactly. When Terrance and I talk about the future it is amazing how little we actually want. We are definitley not in it for the toys. The myth is propagated that Black people do not want to work, that they are lazy. Blacks do not mind working, they just resent being exploited.
Also, Terrance recently observed that considering how hard it is for him as a gay black man to get a job, he is not surprised at how many people turn to the drug trade. At his previous job, when he was let go he was told that he "was not the kind of person" they wanted. His immediate supervisor was a Jamaican ex-gay and the rest of the staff was 95% immigrant and "uncomfortable" with working with an openly gay, gender-nonconforming Black man. Faced with hetero hate like that, the military starts to look good.
> He can only survive because he lives in a trailer on his dad's
property.
The only reason TJ & I manage is that I moved into our apartment 20 years ago.
> It's obviously better than the route I took, which meant I lived on
3-4 hours sleep 7 days a week to get through graduate school.
Which is insane (not you Kelley, the way you needed to live).
Terrance wants to start school in the fall and it is like: "Okay how do we do this." He has been on his own since 15, but all the financial aid forms want to know about his parents' salary (financial aid seems designed for white, middle-class, nuclear families). His Mom doesn't work and Dad is in construction, which means he works when the weather is good and he is needed. Still, he just started to make enough to buy a double-wide on a small piece of property which means the financial aid folks expect him to contribute to TJ's tuition. How this is possible when we send them money sometimes to cover the cost of their prescriptions no one ever explains.
The system is just not designed (intentionally) to educate poor people. In this way they have a ready crop of young men and women for the military. It is just conscription by subtle means. I wish they would bring back the draft.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister