Saturday, March 05, 2005
Recruiting down among African-Americans.
Interesting stuff from Tom Philpott:
Yep. All that's true. Plus an economy growing faster than expected. So kids have more options now than they did then, though that wouldn't really explain the differential between now and 2001.
Now, a quick statistical analysis is in order: What percentage of the recent Army recruiting shortfall can be solely attributed to fewer recruitments among blacks?
Because if the recruiting shortfall is smaller than the number of African American kids who enlisted compared to the number expected, then that also tells you something about everyone else.
And why is it blacks don't feel like they're part of this war, too?
That's a huge problem.
But you know what?
I think that's as much a problem for the leadership of the black community to solve as for George Bush.
Splash, out
Jason
The Army’s wartime recruiting challenge is aggravated by a sharp drop in black enlistments over the last four years, which internal Army and Defense Department polls trace to an unpopular war in Iraq and concerns among blacks with Bush administration policies.
The Army is straining to meet recruiting goals in part because the number of black volunteers has fallen 41 percent — from 23.5 percent of recruits in fiscal 2000 down steadily to 13.9 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2005.
“It’s alarming,” said Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky.
Yep. All that's true. Plus an economy growing faster than expected. So kids have more options now than they did then, though that wouldn't really explain the differential between now and 2001.
Now, a quick statistical analysis is in order: What percentage of the recent Army recruiting shortfall can be solely attributed to fewer recruitments among blacks?
Because if the recruiting shortfall is smaller than the number of African American kids who enlisted compared to the number expected, then that also tells you something about everyone else.
And why is it blacks don't feel like they're part of this war, too?
That's a huge problem.
But you know what?
I think that's as much a problem for the leadership of the black community to solve as for George Bush.
Splash, out
Jason
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