seems more like just one of those mildly annoying things you have to live with.

1. “Racism is any attitude or action by an individual, group or institution to subordinate another person or group because of skin color. Even though race and color are two different kinds of human characteristics, it is the visibility of skin color, along with other physical traits associated with a particular group, which marks them as a target by members of the dominant group. During the history of America this has been true for Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, and other minority groups” (Emphasis added)”
A different way to look at this becomes very clear when you review some National Guard and Reservists Units. In certain situations the minorities actually obtain more of a majority or near majority status because of the geographical location they are recruited from and the tendency of those troops to stay in the location over time versus being scattered to the wind as Activity Duty troops are. On some occasions this majority status that is achieved by the minority is used to promote from within the same race or skin color groups. In a sense causing a minority group to subordinate another group of people due to of skin color or race.

2. “Despite the overt and subtle disparate treatment in the military ranks, racial minorities continue to be dedicated personnel who took the oath of service to their country and deserve to be treated like any other member with the same opportunity to succeed and receive recognition for outstanding performance.”
This is a true statement. However very seldom is an organization able to achieve equality of opportunity and equality of outcome. By ensuring that all members of an organization have the same opportunities to succeed you run the risk of causing a visible difference in the outcome of success. Were a minority groups out comes are different than the relative percentages of racial makeup taken from the community that the organization draws from. This type of comparison placed on any organization gives the impression of unfair treatment to the community. This is of course is not logical. Even if you took a sample of 1000 people from the same race or skin color but from different backgrounds and gave them all the same opportunities you would have those that choose to take advantage of those opportunities and those that did not, causing some to rise above others. This happens all the time in less racial diverse cultures however it is not as easy to identify due to lack of physical differences. In an attempt to remove this unjust comparison, rules are put in place that ensures the percentages of racial makeup within the organization are equal to the community that the organization draws from. These rules, while they appear just at the time, can only have two outcomes. One, the standards of equality of opportunity is removed to ensure equality of outcome. Normally this happens behind closed doors because the organization does not want the appearance of any lack of equality of opportunity. Two, the organizations removal of equality of opportunity standards and the placement of outcome standards causes the promotion of personnel based off of their skin color or race. Often, this causes candidates that have excelled in a given profession and have shown leadership capabilities to be bypassed due to a lack of minority promotions and an obvious difference of percentages. Long term effect of this is the overall reduction of the organizations capabilities.

3. “A person’s prejudicial belief and discriminatory behavior against certain groups because of their race or skin color. Personal or individual racism is motivated by a belief or assumption of superiority or inferiority based on skin color or some other physical trait associated with race. Generally, minorities, who lack power and institutional support, cannot practice racism… (Emphasis added)
This statement contradicts itself. If the assumption or belief of superiority or inferiority based on skin color or a physical trait associated with race is one of the causes of racism, then what happens when you say that minorities cannot practice racism because of there status. You give the minorities a superior position because they cannot practice racism. However once they have achieved this superior position and become aware of it they will begin to hold it against the majority that they feel still practices racism because they can, due to status. This in turn becomes racism.

I know exactly what you are talking about here. While serving in the Army I was able to see alot of differences in the way people were treated based on their skin color.

For example, I had a black 1SG, who had a bad habit of looking the other way when anything was done by any of the black soldiers, including the NCO’s. The CO was not black but he didn’t have a backbone, and did whatever the 1SG told him to do. One of the biggest things that stick in my mind is we had a couple of soldiers who were caught using drugs. Both were NCO’s, and one was white, one was black. The white NCO was given an Article 15 and busted to E-4. The black NCO was promoted 2 months later. It was not the first time the black NCO was caught using drugs, however it was the first for the white NCO. When I questioned my Chain-of-Command about it, I was told tht there was nothing going on and that the mere fact that I was questioning any of it gave the black NCO cause to bring up an EO complaint against me.

That was just one of many things that happened in my short time with the Army. I found that there isn’t EO fr white soldiers in the Army, but the first time you speak out against alot of the “minorities” you are labeled as racist.

You mentioned the recent elestion. You are totally right. My nephew is 11 years old, and was playing with the neighbor girl. Well, for some reason, they started talking about the elections. Oh, she is black, he is white. He told her that he didn’t know who he liked. Her response when he told her that was that he is a racist. Remember these are 11 years old kids. Well, my nephew went and asked his grandmother what a racist was. When he found out he was shocked, and hurt that his ” friend” would call him something like that. It makes me wonder what her parents are teaching her.

All I know is I am an American, born, brd, and proud. If anyone wants to doubt well, that is their choice. If anyone wants to think I am a racist, again their choice. But I know who I am and what I believe. As long as I teach my kids right from wrong, oh and being racist would be part of the ” wrong”, I will be happy. Maybe we just need to find a way to teach the next generation what really is right and wrong, and that ANYONE can be a racist, not just the white guy.

I have long deplored the “hyphenated” American obsession. I identify more with “conservative-American” or “Republican-American” than I do with “Asian-American” or “Thai-adopted-born in Phoenix-American”. I even ridiculed Obama’s official website with all the special interest group categories of hyphenations. But John McCain denied me the “high road” on that one, as his campaign website began sporting the same thing. I don’t mind the “veterans for McCain” or “Mamas for Obama” stuff so much as the ones that focuses on the most superficial of categories: that of race. “Asians and Pacific Islanders for Obama”. “African-Americans for McCain”. It’s ridiculous. I understand that we each take some personal pride in our roots; but I feel like multiculturalism and diversity as it is preached by liberals only succeeds in alienating and segregating by focusing so much on celebrating “all cultures as equal”, and supplanting pride in ethnic roots over pride in what binds us all together: shared values and culture under the banner of the American flag.

Here’s where I’m coming from.

I’m American. That’s it. Or, I can trot out a laundry-list of hyphenations that I fall under that describes me, my ethnicity being the least important and most superficial of traits.

I have no idea how it would work in the military, but is there such a thing as a “class action” complaint? I’ll bet you’d find tons of people who would agree with you, but you’d probably all get in big trouble. CDR Salamander gripes about the Navy’s diversity issues all the time. It’s a big problem, but I have no solutions. You have my sympathy, though, for what it’s worth!