This Week In Education: "We Are Not Government Issued"

This Week In Education: "We Are Not Government Issued":

Russo linked to this article.

“If you go to some Manhattan schools or places where the families have a higher income, you don’t see the recruiters there,” said Ebony Thurman, 18, who was once approached by recruiters at the Atlantic Avenue subway station. “But if you’re in Brooklyn or in lower income neighborhoods, that’s where you really find them trying to recruit people. They tell you that you’ll get job skills or college money. And if you’re a girl they’ll flirt with you and say there a lot of cute guys you could meet if you enlist.”

Here is my response on This Week In Education.

"The military is proud of its diverse makeup and makes a conscious effort to have it's force mirror that of the civilian population, The military firmly believes that it is healthy to have all factions of the population represented in it's rank... for obvious reasons it would be unhealthy to have the military consist entirely of white men from Idaho (or any other group). The military also firmly believes that diversity improves performance and that a diverse group of members adds knowledge and flexibility and makes it stronger.

What many people don't realize is that the military is very selective. The military doesn't have problems finding people wanting to join... it has problems finding people wanting to join AND WHO ARE QUALIFIED. The medical requirements, educational requirements, moral/legal requirements, and ASVAB all disqualify a large (very large) part of the population.

Unfortunately given the poor HS graduation rate and low test performance by minorities, it is a challenge for it to find a proportionate number of minority candidates. It's the exact same problem that Universities and Colleges have.

To counter this struggle, the military uses affirmative action like it was originally meant to. It casts a wider net... it goes to schools to ensure that it can offer opportunities to populations that might not be aware of the benefits and privileges that the military has to offer.

Does this Art teacher protest against universities that recruit in minority schools?

I would wager that the teacher would probably protest if the military was disproportionately white, arguing that it was discriminatory.

I am a bit disappointed that you linked to this story, giving its false insinuation credence."