COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: People of Color
Sending a Latino to Do America's Job
Edward Barrios Acevedo, Capitol Hill Blue
July 29, 2005
Once again, it's G.I. Jose to the rescue.
It should be no surprise that Latinos are being called --
albeit, very quietly -- to do what most U.S. residents don't want
their children to consider: enlist in the U.S. military.
With President Bush refusing to set a timetable for a military
pullout in Iraq, the Defense Department has no choice but to bring up
its anemic monthly recruitment numbers -- a feat that may
difficult without the disproportionate help of Latinos.
While the Army National Guard is on track to miss its 10th
consecutive monthly recruitment goal, the Pentagon recently confessed
to developing a database to track high school students as young as 16
in order to beef up recruitment efforts. The military will collect
information ranging from ethnicity to the types of classes each student
is taking.
Nowhere is this creating more anxiety than in the Latino
community, where Hispanics were disproportionately killed during the
initial phase of the Iraq war, according to researchers at the
University of California.
The Defense Department denies going after any particular ethnic
group, but why then has the information compiled and distributed among
recruiters done exactly that? Approximately 11 percent of the U.S.
military is Hispanic, representing nearly 18 percent of the front
lines, according to the DOD. With these numbers, it's not surprising
that 40 of the first 100 soldiers and Marines from Texas killed in Iraq
were Hispanic.
Still, there are good reasons to believe that recruiters
operating among Latino communities are excited about their prospects.
First, the sheer numbers of Latino youth cannot be overlooked.
Latinos passed African-Americans as the largest minority group in the
United States five years ago; one in every seven 18-year-olds is now of
Hispanic origin, according to the 2000 Census.
Accounting for nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population, with one
third of those under the age of 18, means plenty of potential Latino
recruits.
Second, military recruiters know that just more than half of all
Latinos graduate from high school, creating few opportunities for many
after exiting the public school system. The military addresses this
issue by encouraging new recruits to continue their high school
education in the service.
Third, Latino youth have one of the nation's highest unemployment
figures in the United States, with one in four living in poverty. In
exchange for three square meals a day, free rent, and an opportunity to
save for college, carrying a gun in a remote region of the world
doesn't sound half bad.
Fourth, dangling the carrot of expedited U.S. citizenship for
non-citizens has enticed many young Latino men and women to come
forward. Since President Bush signed an executive order in 2002 making
it easier and faster for non-citizens to become naturalized, thousands
have signed up. Today, more than 35,000 non-citizens, mostly Hispanic,
are active in the armed forces. Unfortunately, some of them, like Jose
Gutierrez, a Guatemala native, will be given their citizenship
posthumously.
The fifth reason takes a little more explaining.
Signed by President Bush in 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act
forces school administrators to give lists containing the names,
addresses and phone numbers of students to military recruiters.
The law does allow parents to "opt out" their children from these
lists by completing paperwork given to students at the beginning of the
school year. The American Civil Liberties Union recently filed a
lawsuit in Albuquerque, N.M., against the military for failing to give
parents the "opt out" letters until after the recruiters had the list.
Some parents are signing the letters while intensifying their
fight to have recruiters removed from high school campuses altogether.
In comes G.I. Jose.
Many Latino parents, especially recent immigrants, are unable to
read English and are likely to be unaware of such legal provisions,
leaving them at a disadvantage in protecting their children from
military recruiters. Still, many parents might not challenge the
government for fear of losing their residency _ even if their children
are U.S. citizens. And so, Latino children may find themselves
over-represented on these lists.
With over 1,750 U.S. troops killed and about 13,000 wounded in Iraq,
recruiters have no other choice to but to continue looking for Latinos
to fill their ranks.
(Edward Barrios Acevedo is a counselor, teacher, and freelance writer
living in Los Angeles. He can be reached at Edwardfactor@yahoo.com)
© Copyright 2005 by Capitol Hill Blue
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