Regional race disparity among war dead

BY MELANIE LEFKOWITZ | Newsday Staff Writer

December 27, 2006

Statistical analysis of the Iraq war dead reveals a regional disparity: while 74 percent of the national war dead are white, 59 percent of the local dead are black or Hispanic.

In part, the local figure reflects the fact that a higher percentage of minorities live in the region, compared to the country's overall population. The majority of the war dead come from the city, where people of color make up 56 percent of the population.

In addition, experts warned that the group of 70 war dead may be too small a sample to make broader conclusions. Still, according to sociologists, politicians and military officials, the disparity bears further examination.

"The numbers are troubling. Any disproportionate share of casualties needs to be studied and needs to be fixed," said Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

"There have been lots of reports, lots of studies, but the Armed Services Committee has not yet focused on it," he said. "And I think we should, and hopefully that's one of the things we'll do in the new Congress."

Are recruiters more aggressive in targeting black and Latino communities? Does higher enlistment among those communities suggest disparities in opportunity?

Recruiters have 'a better chance in Brentwood'

Pedro Noguera, an urban sociologist at New York University, said, "The military knows where to go to get their recruits, and they know they have a better chance in Brentwood than in Roslyn. Kids who are getting into elite colleges are going to be less likely to go to the military than kids who are not going to college. That's a fact. It raises real questions for the whole country about sacrifice and who's had to sacrifice."

The Department of Defense does not publish racial and ethnic breakdowns of overall enlistment from geographical regions.

"Certainly, there's no conscious racism going on, but there may be some elements of institutional racism not in the military but in the United States, where minorities have less access to college and the military becomes a source of social mobility for them," said Morton Ender, a sociologist at the United States Military Academy at West Point. "And then when you're in, if you're in the combat arms, you're much more likely to find yourself in harm's way."

Since the end of the Vietnam war draft, blacks have been overrepresented in the military, sociologists said, though their numbers have waned somewhat in recent years.

Experts: Military seen as allowing advancement

The high rate of enlistment among African-Americans may be partially explained by the perception that the military offers opportunities the civilian world may not, experts said.

"I think that, generally, African-Americans in the military have made it clear that, while they don't regard the military as color blind, they think they have a better chance advancing than in the civilian labor force, and they've been saying that since 1973," said David Segal, the director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland.

But, since 1990, Segal said, black enlistment has dropped, as Hispanic enlistment overall has risen. Segal said the increase is probably due to their rising numbers in the general population, strong recruitment efforts, and in some circumstances, a desire to attain U.S. citizenship. Latinos are also more likely to join the Marines, which has sustained with the Army the bulk of casualties in Iraq.

"The Marine Corps in particular has been recruiting very effectively in that population," said Segal.

Local Army enlistment in the 12 months that ended in early summer, reflects a similar trend. New, active duty recruits for the New York City Recruiting Battalion, which includes Long Island, were 35.1 percent African-American, 34.9 percent Hispanic and 22.7 percent white.

Recruitment often appears to be aimed at disenfranchised populations, which in urban areas can often mean minorities, said Noguera.

Yet Patchogue Army recruiting station commander Sgt. 1st Class Greg Gottner said the Army does not target blacks and Latinos, and those who enlist are not put in more dangerous jobs.

Staff writer Denise M. Bonilla contributed to this story.