Armed forces see sharp drop in black enlistments - 58 percent plunge since 2000

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1481376.html

Blacks, whose longstanding relationship with the U.S. military helped them prove their abilities and offered a way to get ahead, have turned away from the armed forces in record numbers since 2000, a period covering the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the start of the Iraq war.

Defense Department statistics show the number of young black enlistees has fallen by more than 58 percent since fiscal year 2000. The Army in particular has been hit hard: In fiscal year 2000, according to the Pentagon statistics, more than 42,000 black men and women applied to enlist; in fiscal year 2005, the most recent for which a racial breakdown is available, just over 17,000 signed up.

The Iraq war is the biggest reason, according to military analysts, Pentagon surveys and interviews with young blacks. 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.

The decline in enlistment applications among blacks is by far the fastest of any demographic group. Between fiscal 2000 and 2005, white applicants declined by more than 10 percent. Hispanic applicants dropped by almost 7 percent.

[malaise]

1. Looks like the Bell curve was way wrong n/t

[angstlessk]

2. Hell, why need blacks when you can enlist white felons??

seems the military prefers white felons to blacks who are qualified??? See the employment population as a whole...it will mirror the military now that the gloves are off