l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 美国大兵从哪来？白人占美国适龄人口58%，占入伍人数的64%；占17%人口0的黑人占入
伍人数21%；低收入20%适龄人口占入伍人数的10%，高收入40%占49%
The Truth About Who Fights for Us
In 2007, only 11% of enlisted military recruits came from the poorest U.S.
neighborhoods.
By ANN MARLOWE
It should no more be necessary to write this article than to prove that
there were Jews killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. And yet the
mythology refuses to die. Just last week, two well-educated and well-known
writer acquaintances of mine remarked in passing on the "fact" that those
who serve in the U.S. military typically have no other career options.
America's soldiers, they said, were poor and black.
They don't mean this to denigrate their service—no, they mean it as a
critique of American society, which turns its unemployed into cannon fodder.
Especially today with high unemployment, the charge goes, hapless youths we
fail to educate are embarking on a one-way trip to Afghanistan.
These allegations—most frequently leveled at the Army, the military's
biggest service and the one with the highest casualty rate—are false.
In 2008, using data provided by the Defense Department, the Heritage
Foundation found that only 11% of enlisted military recruits in 2007 came
from the poorest one-fifth, or quintile, of American neighborhoods (as of
the 2000 Census), while 25% came from the wealthiest quintile. Heritage
reported that "these trends are even more pronounced in the Army Reserve
Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, in which 40% of enrollees come from
the wealthiest neighborhoods, a number that has increased substantially over
the past four years."
Indeed, the Heritage report showed that "low-income families are
underrepresented in the military and high-income families are
overrepresented. Individuals from the bottom household income quintile make
up 20.0 percent of Americans who are age 18-24 years old but only 10.6
percent of the 2006 recruits and 10.7 percent of the 2007 recruits.
Individuals in the top two quintiles make up 40.0 percent of the population,
but 49.3 percent of the recruits in both years."
What about the charge that our Army is disproportionately black? This too is
false, as is clear from data for fiscal 2010 available on the Army's
website: Whereas blacks comprise 17% of Americans ages 18-39 with high
school degrees, they represent only a slightly larger proportion of enlisted
soldiers, at 21%.
Meanwhile, whites were significantly overrepresented among enlisted Army
personnel in 2010. While 58% of Americans 18-39 years old are white, 64% of
the Army's enlisted men and women are. Whites are underrepresented to a
minor degree in only one category, in which blacks are overrepresented: Army
officers. While 74% of 25-54 year-olds with bachelor's degrees are white,
72% of Army officers are white. While 8% of 25-54 year-olds with B.A.s are
black, 13% of Army officers are.
Is it true that with a shaky economy, blacks have been driven to enlist in
the Army in dramatically increased numbers? The 2010 numbers say otherwise.
While 60% of 18-24 year-olds with a high school degree are white and 17% are
black, 64% of new enlistees are white and 19% are black.
The missing bit of explanation for Army demographics is that Asians and
Pacific Islanders, which make up the fastest-growing American demographic,
are underrepresented in the Army, as are Hispanics. The explanation for the
former is probably cultural, while for the latter it is a matter of
difficulty speaking English. Only 12% of Army enlisted personnel are
Hispanic, as opposed to 21% in the 18-39 year old population with a high
school degree.
Why do myths persist despite all the evidence? One reason is lack of
firsthand exposure to the military: Doing a journalistic embed with American
troops or visiting a U.S. military base—or simply having some friends in
the military—would disabuse my acquaintances of their beliefs.
This detachment is the result of a withdrawal of our urban elites from
military service. And it suits the interests of many members of the urban
elite to believe that the military they do not join is composed of poor,
uneducated victims of an unfair society.
The hidden assumption in this myth is that an institution that is heavily
black is an inferior institution. The myth of the ghetto Army is as nastily
racist as it is false.
Ms. Marlowe, a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute, blogs at World
Affairs. | w*****2
发帖数: 1458 | 2 骑士风尚
自古爵士就有领兵护土的义务
尽管部队有点白人福利的象征，总比整天坐着等吃的fat ass们强 |
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