Racial profiling by recruiters?
In an article in the Guardian, Ms. Nancy Carroll stated that she believes that recruiters unfairly target minority students and that "People of color who go into the military are put on the front line...''
This seemed odd to me so I did a little bit of research.
The DOD publishes a report titled "Population Representation in the Military Services" (it's really really hard to find. I actually had to type "ethnicity statistics" into the DOD search engine and click a button!) which details race and ethnicity of recruit candidates and accessions for enlisted and officers. Let's take a look at some of the stats shall we?
Totals for the DOD Applicants
source data: Appendix A-03. 2003 Population Representation in the Military Services
Total DOD Accessions
source data: Appendix B-03, 2003 Population Representation in the Military Services
If the military is "unfairly targeting" racial / ethnic minorities, they seem to really suck at it.
Most of the applicants and recruits appear to be white, non-hispanic males.
Perhaps the Guardian (and the Associated Press) could have done this oh so complicated research and provided it to their readers rather than just doing a press release for groups such as Code Pink, American Friends Service Committee, and Veterans for Peace, all of whom are linked to and listed as co-sponsors by the websites provided by the Guardian in the article at http://www.leavemychildalone.org/
You don't suppose those groups would be lying about the statistics or that they might have an ulterior motive now do you?
This seemed odd to me so I did a little bit of research.
The DOD publishes a report titled "Population Representation in the Military Services" (it's really really hard to find. I actually had to type "ethnicity statistics" into the DOD search engine and click a button!) which details race and ethnicity of recruit candidates and accessions for enlisted and officers. Let's take a look at some of the stats shall we?
Totals for the DOD Applicants
| Race | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 71.10% | 60.91% | 69.04% |
| Black | 15.97% | 24.62% | 17.71% |
| AIAN | 2.14% | 2.40% | 2.20% |
| Asian | 2.85% | 3.01% | 2.88% |
| NHPI | 1.56% | 2.14% | 1.68% |
| Two or More | 2.48% | 3.02% | 2.59% |
| Unknown | 3.89% | 3.90% | 3.89% |
| Hispanic | 13.73% | 15.15% | 14.02% |
| Not Hispanic | 86.27% | 84.85% | 85.98% |
source data: Appendix A-03. 2003 Population Representation in the Military Services
Total DOD Accessions
| Race | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 77.51% | 67.54% | 75.79% |
| Black | 13.35% | 22.86% | 14.99% |
| AIAN | 1.75% | 2.15% | 1.82% |
| Asian | 1.26% | 1.09% | 1.23% |
| NHPI | 0.44% | 0.37% | 0.42% |
| Two or More | 2.62% | 2.88% | 2.67% |
| Unknown | 3.07% | 3.11% | 3.08% |
| Hispanic | 11.24% | 12.73% | 11.50% |
| Not Hispanic | 88.76% | 87.27% | 88.50% |
If the military is "unfairly targeting" racial / ethnic minorities, they seem to really suck at it.
Most of the applicants and recruits appear to be white, non-hispanic males.
Perhaps the Guardian (and the Associated Press) could have done this oh so complicated research and provided it to their readers rather than just doing a press release for groups such as Code Pink, American Friends Service Committee, and Veterans for Peace, all of whom are linked to and listed as co-sponsors by the websites provided by the Guardian in the article at http://www.leavemychildalone.org/
You don't suppose those groups would be lying about the statistics or that they might have an ulterior motive now do you?
