[lbo-talk] blacks shun military

[John Thornton]

Doug Henwood forwarded:
> 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.

Where did the idea that AA's are being steered towards combat jobs? The 
last I read AA's were underrepresented in casualties.
69% of the military is Anglo but 74.3% of the casualties are while AA's 
comprise 12.3% of the military but have 9.6% of the casualties.
Asians are 3.7% of the military but suffer 1.8% of the casualties.
Hispanics are 12.5% and suffer 10.7% of the casualties.
NA's are 1% and suffer 1.1% of the casualties.
Unfortunately NA's are still joining in large numbers and are 
overrepresented in the military by:
Air Force +160%
Army +140%
Navy +16.7%
I don't know why the Navy is so much lower than the other branches. For 
those who don't know the Marines are part of the Navy but I didn't find 
a breakout for the Marines separately.

John Thornton