A down-to-earth briefing from a team of sociologists on the US
Army's achievements in affording equal opportunity to all comers,
suggesting what other American institutions might learn from it.
Before assessing the details of what they call a success story with
caveats, sociologists Moskos (Northwestern Univ.) and Butler (Univ.
of Texas) provide a once-over-lightly survey of the
African-American experience in the US military, from the colonial
era to the present. Getting down to business, the authors offer
by-the-numbers summaries on the incidence of African-Americans in
the enlisted, NCO, and commissioned ranks (one in nine members of
the Army's officers corps is black). Liberal complaints about
cannon fodder to the contrary, there's no evidence that blacks are
overrepresented in front-line units, which suffer the greatest
casualties under fire. Moskos and Butler characterize the Army as a
race-savvy, not race-blind, service that pragmatically subordinates
trendy peripheral concerns (ethnic diversity, multiculturalism) to
its primary goal of combat readiness. The authors go on to argue
that "the Army does not patronize or infantilize blacks by implying
that they need special standards in order to succeed." Instead of
lowering its standards, they point out, the Army elevates veterans
as well as recruits with a wealth of instructional courses and
programs. Among the lessons to be learned from the accomplishments
of the Army and its black soldiers, they cite the need to focus on
opportunity and to link affirmative-action efforts to supply-
rather than demand-side exigencies or aspirations. In a concluding
chapter, the authors call for a national service corps to offset
the loss of opportunities caused by downsizing of the US military.
An important, eye-opening study that delivers fresh, matter-of-fact
perspectives on a divisive issue in need of more reason and less
rhetoric. (Kirkus Reviews)
In a fascinating study of how the Army became the premier model for
developing black leadership in a racially integrated setting,
Moskos and Butler show how this system works and how it can be
applied throughout American society.. The foremost autorities on
race relations in the armed forces recount the previously untold
success story of how the U.S. Army became the most integrated
institution in America. Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler
observe that the Army is the only place in America where blacks
routinely boss around whites, and in this book they lay out the
path by which the Army has promoted excellence across racial lines,
while also showing how this military model can be adapted to fit
the needs of civilian society. The Army way offers hope for our
nation in a troubled time, and by following its example, Americans
of all races can truly be all that we can be.
General
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