Reinstatement of the Draft
to undertake more wars.
2. Parents of Black and Hispanic young adults who have not
chosen a career in the military do not want their kids to be
drafted any more than white parents.
During the Vietnam war, the draft put Black and Hispanic
soldiers on the front lines disproportionately to white soldiers.
During the Gulf War, conscientious objectors, many of them
Muslims and Black troops, asked to be released. Instead, they
were "forced to refuse orders to battle instead. Some were
beaten, shackled and sent to the front lines." (Draft Counselor
John Judge of the Committee for High School Options and
Information on Careers, Education and Self-Improvement)
Entire Letter to Charles Rangel
Former Marine Captain Nathaniel Fick reports the opposite
finding in today's Iraq war:
"Yes, some minority men and women enlist for lack of other options,
but they tend to concentrate in support jobs where they can learn
marketable skills like driving trucks or fixing jets, not throwing grenades
and setting up interlocking fields of machine gun fire. African-Americans,
who comprise nearly 13 percent of the general population, are
overrepresented in the military at more than 19 percent - but they
account for only 10.6 percent of infantry soldiers, the group that suffers
most in combat. Hispanics, who make up 13.3 percent of the American
population, are underrepresented at only 11 percent of those in uniform."
Entire Article by Nathaniel Fick
The argument that all citizens should share in the sacrifices
of war by instituting conscription does not solve our country's
social inequalities and access to a better life. Even more
Americans wounded and dying in unnecessary wars serves no
one. Instead, a responsible foreign policy should be instituted,
one that values human life at home and abroad.
