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Gary Langer is director of polling at ABC News, where he's covered the beat of public opinion for nearly 20 years - conducting and analyzing ABC News polls, evaluating data from other sources and setting the news division's standards for poll reporting. Langer is a two-time Emmy award winner, both for ABC's reporting of public opinion polls in Iraq.
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Racial Discrimination: An Army Survey
January 06, 2009 2:32 PM
I’ve been focused on military issues lately – first the veteran vote, then a polling misfire by the Military Times – and now a fascinating new report soon to be published in the journal “Armed Forces & Society,” tackling the issue of racial discrimination in the Army.
As Barack Obama prepares to take office as the first African-American president, the study underscores the work yet to be done beyond his individual accomplishment. It finds significant experiences of discrimination – including reverse discrimination – in the enlisted ranks and among minority officers, but much less so among white officers, whom it describes as “comfortably colorblind.”
The study is based on a rare, representative, random-sample survey of active-duty U.S. Army service members conducted in 2004. Results on partisanship and ideology have been released previously (see my coverage last July). The new report, again by Army Maj. Jason Dempsey and Columbia University Prof. Robert Shapiro, is focused chiefly on Hispanics but includes data across races.
Among the findings:
- Among officers, just 3 percent of whites report experiencing discrimination within their current unit, compared with 27 percent of black and Hispanic officers alike.
- In the enlisted ranks, significant numbers of whites, Hispanics and blacks alike report experiencing racial discrimination within their current unit (22, 19 and 24 percent, respectively). Enlisted whites are in fact somewhat more apt than others to think that their race has hurt them in terms of promotions – 17 percent of enlisted whites think so, vs. 10 percent of Hispanics and 7 percent of blacks.
The study notes that whites make up less than half of senior enlisted ranks; “Ironically,” it says, “the success of minorities in this area has not led to a decrease in discrimination so much as whites now have an equal opportunity to experience racial and ethnic discrimination.”
- Among white officers, 84 percent believe there’s less discrimination in the military than in civilian life. But that drops to 52 percent of enlisted whites and 35 or 36 percent of enlisted blacks and Hispanics.
“The discrepancy between the opinions of white officers and the opinions of minorities on this issue is particularly important given that whites make up over 80 percent of the senior officer ranks and therefore set policy for the Army,” the authors report. Referring to senior Army leaders, they add: “Having had little experience or exposure to discrimination themselves, and believing the Army to have achieved success in the area of racial and ethnic relations, they may not recognize the frequency with which minorities encounter discrimination. In sum, they are comfortably colorblind - unaware of the true prevalence of discrimination.”
To be sure, there also are positive results; for instance, the report says, "In terms of faith in Army leaders and perception of opportunity in the Army, there are no significant differences in attitudes between members of the three groups." And it says blacks, whites and Hispanics report the same level of mentoring opportunities from more senior colleagues.
Moreover, the level of discrimination service members report in their own unit is far lower than the level they report having experienced in civilian life (though the two are not strictly comparable - the former being a two- or three-year-gauge, the latter, a lifetime assessment).
Overall, the authors say, "This absence of differences in outlook about the Army experience should be taken as a sign that racial and ethnic integration is proceeding fairly well. However, the Army still faces challenges in the area of racial and ethnic discrimination."
That conclusion is a reminder of the realities of race relations the country still faces, even at the dawn of the Obama presidency.
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Disclosure and a hat-tip: The second author of this study, Bob Shapiro, works as an election-night consultant for ABC News. The first author, Maj. Jason Dempsey, ships out next week to serve as the operations officer for an infantry battalion in Afghanistan.
January 6, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (5)
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lmao How about Harry Reid "The George Wallace of the Senate" SEAT BURRIS
Posted by: MSN exposed | Jan 6, 2009 3:12:21 PM
I've been working for the Army for over 28 years. I'm Hispanic and female. You'd think I have all reasons to be discriminanted but, guess what? My experience about working for the US Army is that, as long as you work hard and have brains, people respect you, regardless of your race, ethnic background, or gender. I'm so blessed to have come to work for the Army!
Posted by: AGT-R | Jan 20, 2009 10:02:56 PM
As a retired, white, Army officer who has been in the civilian sector for 13 years, and an active diversity team member for one of America's largest and most respected banks, I can attest to the fact that the Armed Services, despite many flaws, is light years ahead of the private sector in combatting discrimination. That 3% of white officers, the dominant group, have never experienced discrimination is not surprising. We were/are, largely, through inaction or a lack of courage, the ones perpetrating that discrimination. However, good officers; those who serve their soldiers, regardless of race or gender, saw/see only green.
Posted by: Sam | Jan 22, 2009 10:44:06 PM
If people bash President the way Mr.Bush got Bashed,is it a RACIAL ISSUE?
Posted by: amstaffbru | Jan 23, 2009 12:21:35 PM
Oh lord...here we go again. first off, i agree with what "amstaffbru" said/asked.
Boy i tell ya, that certainly showed the level of "class" and respect when President Bush was boo'd during the 'switch'. i dont remember ever hearing anyone in the news really saying how wrong that was...and if they felt so strongly in that direction about bush, why wasnt he impeached? no we didnt hear the press saying much about that, but had it of happened to obama....we wouldnt of ever heard the end of the 'racist' crap.
did anyone happen to catch the Jimmy Kimmel show where he literally gathered up a group of black men and asked them what all would be 'acceptable' to joke about where obama was concerned?
do you really think that jimmy was serious? i dont, i think he was making a huge point and only those with any intelligence could see it! is that some kind of 'reverse descrimination' on the rest of the presidents because they were white? we can joke about white guys without any fear, but we cant against the black man? i wont be held hostage by those issues. i dont care what color you are, if i think of something funny about you...i am going to laugh and do it outloud!
it makes me sick that obama already has a free ride...he hasnt even had a chance to screw up yet and everyone is already covering his butt! he/the press/his supporters literally have already secured his second term just by saying that EVERYONE ELSE has screwed things up so badly that it will take him the whole "8" years just to line things up! that is bull! how is it that he has already been elected a second term?
no matter what he does, no one will accept that he may make a bad decision and if they dare say he did....the screams of "racism" will be jabbed right into our brains. bet me.
i dont think that those who constantly accuse this country of being racist even WANT 'descrimination' to go away. it doesnt look like it to me.
did anyone notice that not ONE known black person claimed to of voted against obama? is that because every single black (including the large number of black registered republicans) all agreed that Mr. Obama was the best choice in every way to be this countries commander and chief? or...is it at least something to consider that maybe that is why there was less republican voter turn out for this election? hey, you cant blame a black person for NOT standing up and saying..."i am voting for mccain"...OMG! the hating that would cause! he wouldnt be able to ever show his face again! so, i think that many of the black republican voters chose simply ...not to vote. i think they felt they would be doing their own race wrong. but this country isnt about race. there are too many of them for any of us to decide what color is going to be in charge of this nation.
one thing that i am absolutely struck by is that its a proven fact that there is more violence in the african american neighborhoods where people of the same color are exterminating each other yet they all agreed to vote for obama for president that is or has claimed to be "mr. peaceful" and who has these ideas that he can change the way we deal with terrorist by giving them 'rights'.
i am not sure how anyone thinks that he is going to bring any 'peace' to our lives or on a world sized scale when he did nothing to lower the number of killings in the chicago area during his term as a senator. in fact, by what i read, the crime in the african american neighborhoods continued to go up! if i am wrong...by all means...show me!
i am sick of hearing about the whole 'racist' issue. i dont care what sector it is. i am even sicker yet of the press going out on a limb to find it in every nook and cranny they can. let it go. we voted in a black or african american president for crying out loud. LET IT GO!
Posted by: kimberly | Jan 28, 2009 4:17:36 AM
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