'We treasure diversity'

I have so many problems with this article that I'm not even sure where to start. Last time I checked, a bullet didn't care what color you were, and in my time in the Army I've encountered very few soldiers who did either. If the Army isn't the most colorblind institution in America, I'd be hard pressed to name another. I can't speak for the other service branches, but I have no reason to believe they'd be much different.

That being said, apparently even the Pentagon has its own in-house racial grievance squad:

The dearth of blacks in high-ranking positions gives younger African-American soldiers few mentors of their own race. And as the overall percentage of blacks in the service falls, particularly in combat careers that lead to top posts, the situation seems unlikely to change ... For one thing, Wilson said, "it's hard to tell young people the sky's the limit when they look up and don't see anyone" who looks like them.

Your leaders have to "look like you" in order for you to be a squared-away individual who takes initiative and displays leadership potential. That's certainly news to me. None of my leaders ever looked anything like me.

The reasons for the lack of blacks in the higher ranks are many and complex, ranging from simple career choices to Congress and family recommendations. Most often mentioned is that black recruits are showing less interest in pursuing combat jobs, which are more likely to propel them through the officer ranks.

"Kids I've spoken to, who choose to do supply, who choose to do lawyer, who choose to do admin, have the impression that 'If I go to Army and become an infantry person, that is not a skill that I can carry to the civilian work force,"' said Clarence Johnson, director of the Pentagon's Office of Diversity Management. [Emphasis added]

Can someone please explain to me what an "infantry person" is? How brainwashed by PC nonsense does one have to be to reflexively drop the gender-specific suffix in "infantryman," when women are prohibited by law from even partaking in that particular MOS (military occupational specialty)?

Instead, he said young black officers choose other fields because "they want to prepare for a future outside of the military, and they believe that being in communications, being in logistics will provide them a better opportunity to succeed."

This year, roughly half of all black active duty officers gravitated toward supply, maintenance, engineering and administrative jobs - almost double the rate of non-black officers.

Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, the percentage of blacks coming into the Army has plunged from 22 percent to 13 percent. Also, the percentage of blacks in military overall has dipped in the past 10 years, from more than 20 percent to 17 percent today.

"We treasure diversity because it brings in a lot of different viewpoints and blends in a lot of cultures," he said. "It makes us better." --Army Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq

My young son will not be raised to "treasure diversity," whatever that meaningless feel-good phrase is even supposed to mean anyway. He will be taught that the only "cultural blend" that is important is the uniquely American culture of political, economic, and individual freedom, and self-sufficiency from government. If he so chooses to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States, he will be instructed that service is the operative word. As in, selfless service, not self-service.

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
--America, 1961

"Yeah, but what's in it for me?"
--America, 2008

Look how far we've come.

MilBlogs TV - 24 Jul 08