4/19/13

How a Scholarship Girl Becomes a Soldier


How a Scholarship Girl becomes a Soldier by Gina M. Perez is about the militarization of Puerto Rican and Latino/a youth in Chicago public schools. The author uses ethnographic and interview data in order to demonstrate how military programs such as the Junior Reserve Officer Training (JROTC) have targeted Latina/o youth in Chicago. When the JROTC was founded in 1916 it mainly targeted Puerto Rican youth, however recently the program has increasingly been targeting urban schools with populations that are considered to be “at risk”.  The JROTC not only targets males who they believe are “at risk” of falling into gangs or drug use but also females who are “at risk” of becoming unwed teenage mothers. With Chicago holding one of the largest amounts of impoverished residents the JROTC uses this to lure young men and women that come from poor and working class families into joining the military.
About eighty-five percent of Chicago public school students come from low income families that are African American or Latina/o. The economic disadvantage of Latina/o adolescents is what facilitates their decision into joining the military. Many of the young men and women that join the military do so because it gives them an opportunity to progress and financial stability. The JROTC program uses financial incentives in order to get these young men and women into joining their program. Public Schools in Chicago offer the JROTC as a part of the Education in Careers Program which fulfills a graduation requirement. The establishment of the JROTC program in High School is a tactic used to target these low income youths into considering a military career after graduation. Since many of these low income youths feel that they have no way of paying for college or helping their families a career in the military becomes an easy solution to their problems.

Apart from the financial incentive which the JROTC and the military offer young men and women another reason according to the author for joining the JROTC is for the respect they gain. Many of these low income teenagers are used to being “enmeshed in racialized policing” and treated with little or no respect. When they join JROTC the uniform they wear becomes a symbol of respect something they are not use to having. These uniforms set them apart from “civilians” and give them a sense of belonging. It also makes them feel as though they are at an equal footing as those who look down on them.

Young women also join the JROTC for educational and economic reasons however ethnographic evidence shows that they also do it as way of having more freedom. Cultural norms within Latino families, such as the idea that a woman’s place is in the home often drive young women who are constantly being watched by their parents to join the military, which will give them autonomy. Parents who are concerned with their daughters sexuality look to the JTROC as a way to cultivate good values, discipline, and honor something that is very important in Latino families.

The economic disparity that many of these low income communities in Chicago face increases the number of men and women that join the military after High school. Such was the case for a young woman named Jasmin who had been a top student at her High School and consistently made the honor role. Jasmin had received a scholarship and had been accepted to many four year colleges and was excited to become the first women in her family to go to college. However, in 2002 Jasmin ended up signing up for the military when asked why, she said “this is just another way I can be sure to pay for college.” Jasmin is an example of the heavy burden that many low income adolescents face. Jasmin’s desire to go to college was immense, but her sense of obligation to help her family and be economically stable was even greater.

JROTC programs have been strategically placed in urban schools and increasingly continue to be funded. The JROTC is supposed to help young men and women choose a career, instill discipline, and good character. However what it really aims to do is to recruit these adolescents into the military.  These military programs take advantage of low income minorities who feel like they have no choice but to enlist in the military as a means to support their families. Military programs target low income communities because they know that they can be easily swayed by financial incentives and promises of a better life. When recruiting men and women into military service race, poverty, honor, and the desire to have citizenship are all used to convince people. Recruiters come into Latino and African American communities with promises of a better life and convincing them that they are fighting for freedom. Rather than encourage these adolescents to join the military they should be encouraged to go to college, rather than taking the easy way out. If the JROTC program is meant to help adolescents prepare for the future  and choose a career why do they mainly target low income minority communities? Why not also target upper class communities?

Here is a clip on military recruitment in Latino communties.

18 comments:

  1. Why this is great.. Chicago is in fact not only an extremely violent place but there are lots of minorities and the Crime rates in Chicago are always sky high.. Though is never good to force them into the military with the possibility of dying.. at least they will do it in honor and not in the hands of crime or someone taking their lives. I agree with you stating that it gives them something to fight for and be proud of.. and also sets them with a scholarship to perceive higher education. This is a good form of help for many minorities.

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  2. Very Interesting! I never thought the military like JROTC will actually have a specific focus on a particular group of people like the Latino race! This is actually very shocking to the reality of their aim to the program. As for Jasmin's case it's very saddening to know her story because it's probably one of many. Yet, the military shouldn't take advantage of these people and their economic crisis to false hopes. The military will often probably go to these low income minority communities because it's very simple to dominate them. They know that upper class communities will probably not be interested or need their financial stability that they are being offered because they simply have it all.

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  3. Interesting comments and perspectives. I would also like to push you to think of alternative solutions-- it seems that many of these young people join the military to get away from the conditions of their lives-- poverty, crime, drugs, etc. What if we pushed to solve those problems rather than targeting the poor (mostly people of color)? In other words, wouldn't it be better to address the structural problems (poor schools, crime, poverty, etc.) that lead so many young people to join the military?

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    1. I totally agree with you Professor. Many of my friends have gone to the miltary to make a better life for themselves and their families. They feel the miltary is a better way to fix their economic and financial problems. The military advertises for a better life and people draw into it because of the benefits they hope to gain.I do think it would be better to address the issues of the people sruggling but then if these problems were to be addressed who would join the military? This is what the military would be afraid of, if problems are solved then theirs no need for people to join the military, therefore problems will never get solved.

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  4. This reading was so surprising to me. I'd always seen the recruiters at my high school in Brooklyn, but I have never had any personal interest in joining. This presents such a different perspective for me; knowing that this highly respected institution may be targeting certain communities with their own ulterior motives is really disappointing. It also makes me think of conversations I've had with acquaintances who wanted to join the military. One actually tried to convince me to join, and a part of his argument that he stressed was the institution's ability to pay my college tuition.
    In regards to your question, Professor, I do think the structure needs to be targeted and changed instead of trying to attract these kids to military programs. If it weren't for the circumstances in so many of these communities, JROTC wouldn't be so appealing to the youth.

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  5. I'd like to first say that I do not believe that by joining the military as an alternative to going to college that these teens are taking the "easy way out." I appreciate you posting the video as it definitely added to the reading. I think that discipline is a very important component in the Hispanic/Latino community along with family values. I can see the ROTC as a stepping stone into the military because it enforces discipline while also opening their eyes to a lifestyle in which they are guaranteed a paycheck right out of highschool and a way to help them afford college if they choose to attend after completing their military service. I think that if, as a nation, we addressed the structural problems that push so many people into a military career, that we would have to reinstate the draft. I know that is a negative viewpoint, but I honestly feel that it would be the case.

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    1. I also agree with you on this front, Samantha. There is nothing "easy" about joining the military, especially at such a young age. The psychological, as well as physical damage, that is inflicted upon an individual during war time, and even training, is traumatic. Some people just do not receive the motivation from teachers to continue their education (a result of a poor, educational system), and others simply do not have the funds to attend college. Unless someone truly has dreams of joining the military, I do not believe its an easy way out.

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    2. I appreciate your comment Samantha M however when I made the comment of taking “the easy way out” I by no means meant that being in the military was easy. What I meant was that for these teenagers who probably have no idea of the severity of what being in the military could be like and are being promised financial stability and a way out of their lifestyle, a career in the military would seem like a good decision to them because it offers them a solution to their problems.

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  6. To answer Professors question, and in agreement with SamanthaM, structural issues are definitely a root cause behind the high, military enlistment of those of a lower, socioeconomic status. Just as we can look at everything structurally, the imperfections of our societal system do much to proliferate poverty, drug culture, and crimes. Each of those things are an outlet-or escape, from an individuals reality. In that way, the ROTC could be a positive solution, although encouragement into military service is the fault of the society we live in. In my experience, I have only known caucasian men who practiced JROTC in high school, and one who eventually joined the army upon graduating high school. Surely this is not the same everywhere, especially depending on geography and demographics, but it is difficult for me to believe that ROTC programs intentionally target minorities.

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  7. Working in a high school that is 95% Hispanic and in a low-income community I've seen many students join the military as an "easy way out." Although it hasn't worked out for all of them, most of them have had successful experiences. I've also seen military recruiters pushed out of the building by staff members who don't believe in their targeting tactics. In NYC High Schools there is a Military Opt-out procedure that allows parents and students to opt-out of having their information shared with Military recruiters. There is currently a nationwide initiative to push college readiness in our schools. There has been a diminished presence of recruiters in our community as a whole, perhaps due the recent cuts in tuition assistance for new recruits because of the sequester. So my question is, how are we supposed to staff our military then? While I do not believe they should be targeted to low-income minority students, I do believe that the ROTC programs are necessary and can even be helpful in training new recruits and making sure they know what they are getting into.

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  8. I do believe that these adolescents should be encouraged to go to college, rather than being encouraged to join the military. In the same way that these military recruiters are persuading low income students and giving them easy financial choices to join the military, the same thing can be done by colleges they should provide programs which make a college education more accessible for lower income students.The fact that the military is targeting blacks and hispanics makes me view this as tactic of ethnic cleansing, because chances are that when these soldiers are placed in war they have a very low chance of surviving.

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  9. My grandfather, dad and 3 out of four brothers joined the military as a "way out"... The military is not interested in helping minority men and women to "gain respect." If it was about fostering respect and the love of serving your country, then why don't they set up camp in more affluent areas? Surely there are well off men and women who love their country? The military plays on the fears that minorities, like the men in my family, have had. Access to education, and the ability to pay for it, supporting ones family. They are lured in with the promise of money. Soldiers get extra pay for deploying. It may be great for my brother's bank account but it sure doesn't help my mother sleep at night hearing about trucks getting blown up in Afghanistan or worrying that he'll be sent to Korea. Again. In order to help support his family, my brother has had to re-enlist several times. Not only has this taken him away from his family, sometimes for years on end, but he has little time for that free education he was promised. My second oldest brother, who has completed his service, is having a hard time getting the military to pay for his education. My father currently works for the VA working on veterans claims constantly tells me about how difficult it is for these vets to see any money, even receive medical attention. He should know, he can barely get an appointment and when he does, the treatment is often inadequate.

    I'm sure there are POC's who have enlisted that have felt the pride of serving and have managed to cultivate a career. I don't know any of them. I can't support the targeting of minority men and women by the military. Not when, from my experience, what they're selling is a bunch of tall tales to sucker in people who feel they have no options. Especially when those people mostly seem to come from specific economic and racial backgrounds.

    An aside, the idea of recruiting minority women into the military as means to control their sexuality is particularly heinous. Just another reminder that our bodies are constantly being policed and that the sexuality of WOC is seen as out of control, in need of supression. And given astronomical rates of(under-reported, un-prosecuted)rape and sexual assault in the military, the tactic seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

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  10. I grew up in a military town with two bases close by. I would say that majority of the people I knew who joined the military from highschool did not know what they would like to do when they grew up and were struggling with money from their low paying jobs. They only looked at the aspects of benefits and steady pay, which are positives. But many of those who I knew joined soon realized it was not something they liked or intend to do the rest of their lives. Now they are in their late 20's out of the military and with no college education and starting from square one. I think the military is great for certain individuals but I think it should be further screened than just letting anyone join.

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  11. This is a very interesting article and good points that you bring up in your blog, but i do not think its much of an "easy way out" . It is true that most of these kids grew up in a low income home and may or may not be heading down a future path of destruction, but some of them do not see the extent of how dangerous joining the military is. I have a friend that joined the marines and he has told me all the horrible stories of training camp and now he is headed off to Afghanistan. Though you do learn important discipline and build up your honor for defending your country it can also be a scary thing to go into. Also the military is racial profiling these latino kids and I know they are not forcing the join the military, but do they give these kids any other different options if they now they might have a terrible future ahead of them. Like someone stated above, if the military is going to do this, why not just start drafting people.

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  13. I think it might be interesting to note that I grew up in a middle class suburban area where the ROTC was banned from recruiting. The sentiment in the community was in part liberal and anti-military, and in part seperated from any of the economic realities that make the idea of going into the military, other than applying to one of the academies, non-existant.

    Enrolling and serving in the military in our country has a history that is deeply connected to our economic class system. A class system that the military itself is invested in perpetuating through the class system of "ranks".

    That the military presents itself as a viable arm, within our Capatalist society is, by virtue of the fact that we are theoretically the government, within our purvue. Although it may not be very realistic, it is possible, for communities to insist that they not be major recruiting grounds for the various branches of the military.

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  14. I think this is a very interesting post and I think the many different views of the people commenting are also interesting. I think it is important to also have personal or more in depth information when it comes to thinking about some things, and I think that this is a very good thing for personal information. I think that by just reading about things like this you can form your opinion about what the government and the military should and shouldn't be allowed to do, but reading some of the comments about people who have family or acquaintances in the military gives you a different and better perspective in a sense. I have seen the Army commercials on the spanish channels and I do get the impression that they are pretty much targeting the latino youths to want to become something great by going into the army and being able to still have an education. By reading some of these comments, I see that these benefits that they are saying they will have, don't come that easy. I guess that in a way they are thinking that by targeting the low income communities, they will be able to convince people who need the financial help. By being able to recruit these people, it is almost like a win win situation because the army gets people to join, and the people joining, who may be from a low income and bad community , will stay out of trouble and stay away from making mistakes with bad influences.

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  15. Interesting post!I am proud of my service Ive never thought of my service as something that i was targeted for. this was real food for thought for me. Was i targeted? I do not feel as though my economic status had any matter in my decision to enlist but according to the comments there are some real horror stories out there!

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