Feb 9, 2022 06:43 PM
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mili...ted-states
EXCERPT: . . . Integration in Killeen is evident in everyday life, Williams says. Her neighbors come from many different backgrounds, and her children have had several Black teachers, even though the vast majority of U.S. public school teachers are white. Most of her friends in Killeen, also current or former military, are in interracial relationships.
Killeen is not an anomaly. The UC Berkeley researchers found that the most integrated places in the country have a strong military presence, including larger cities such as Fayetteville, N.C., and Colorado’s Aurora and Colorado Springs. “The biggest players for effective integration ended up being these military towns,” says social psychologist Lindsey Burnside of UC Berkeley, who worked on the report.
Integration in these places is no accident. By the late 1940s, the military was starting to realize that segregation threatened troop cohesion and efficiency, says economist Chantal Smith of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va.
What’s more, military leaders could enforce desegregation efforts much more aggressively than leaders in civilian institutions due to the notion of rank over race, Smith says. “The military is on some level color-blind. Orders are orders. You follow the orders.”
That hierarchical structure can lead to abuses within the institution, such as leaders ignoring reports of mental health problems and sexual violence. But that same structure translates to service members of all races gaining equal access to education benefits, housing, pensions and health insurance.
The body of research available today, which largely focuses on the Black-white racial divide, shows that compared with Black civilians, Black service members fare better on numerous metrics, including household income and homeownership rates.
As a result, many Black people, especially women, see enlisting in the military as one of the clearest routes to a better life. Even though Black people account for roughly 14 percent of the U.S. population, over 17 percent of active duty service members are Black. And Black women make up 26 percent of female active duty service members... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPT: . . . Integration in Killeen is evident in everyday life, Williams says. Her neighbors come from many different backgrounds, and her children have had several Black teachers, even though the vast majority of U.S. public school teachers are white. Most of her friends in Killeen, also current or former military, are in interracial relationships.
Killeen is not an anomaly. The UC Berkeley researchers found that the most integrated places in the country have a strong military presence, including larger cities such as Fayetteville, N.C., and Colorado’s Aurora and Colorado Springs. “The biggest players for effective integration ended up being these military towns,” says social psychologist Lindsey Burnside of UC Berkeley, who worked on the report.
Integration in these places is no accident. By the late 1940s, the military was starting to realize that segregation threatened troop cohesion and efficiency, says economist Chantal Smith of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va.
What’s more, military leaders could enforce desegregation efforts much more aggressively than leaders in civilian institutions due to the notion of rank over race, Smith says. “The military is on some level color-blind. Orders are orders. You follow the orders.”
That hierarchical structure can lead to abuses within the institution, such as leaders ignoring reports of mental health problems and sexual violence. But that same structure translates to service members of all races gaining equal access to education benefits, housing, pensions and health insurance.
The body of research available today, which largely focuses on the Black-white racial divide, shows that compared with Black civilians, Black service members fare better on numerous metrics, including household income and homeownership rates.
As a result, many Black people, especially women, see enlisting in the military as one of the clearest routes to a better life. Even though Black people account for roughly 14 percent of the U.S. population, over 17 percent of active duty service members are Black. And Black women make up 26 percent of female active duty service members... (MORE - missing details)