The brothers of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity, are helping educate students about the statistics of black and Latino deaths in the war in Iraq and the tactics the armed forces use to recruit immigrants and minorities.

In a workshop entitled ‘The Brown Man’s Burden’ held Wednesday evening in Eggers Hall, four LUL brothers and a black World War II veteran spoke about the high rate at which black and Latino soldiers are dying in the war in Iraq. The speakers attributed these statistics to the ’empty promises’ the armed forces give when recruiting these minorities.

‘The aim of the recruiting station is clear. We cannot run our armed forces as a business,’ said junior biology major Noman Khan, who was one of the speakers during the workshop.

According to data the brothers compiled from public documents released by the Department of Defense, Latinos make up 9.4 percent of enlisted men and women in the U.S. armed forces. More than 17 percent of these men and women serve in the Army, while more than 19 percent are in the Marines. The speakers said Latino soldiers are being killed at staggering rates.

One of the reasons so many minorities and immigrants are being put on the front lines is because of legislation passed by the U.S. government, the speakers said. The No Child Left Behind Act, initiated in the beginning of President George W. Bush’s first term, allows the government to access sensitive documents pertaining to students’ economic and citizenship status, which, the speakers said, helps military recruiters to find ways to attract minorities to the armed forces.

Another piece of legislation, the Dream Act, allows immigrants in the United States to enter a two-year college or military service in order to acquire a green card. According to the speakers’ data, only 42 percent of Latinos go to college, and seven percent of U.S. citizens from Mexico over the age of 25 have a degree from a two-year school.

‘Tuition cuts are a big part of the problem. This affects us all,’ Khan said. ‘If you find yourself with no (financial aid) … the obvious answer to why so many minorities join the military is clear.’

Khan explained the strategies some armed forces recruiters use to attract blacks and Latinos. In Florida, he said, recruitment centers are placed on the beaches and in areas where populations of poorer minorities are present.

Another reason recruiters are so successful in convincing minorities to sign up, Khan said, pertained to international students wanting to continue their education in the United States.

‘International students from ‘high-risk’ (countries) have to go through a rigorous screening process,’ he said. If they join the armed forces, however, they can receive a green card within two years.

Yadira Garcia, a sophomore majoring in international relations, attended the workshop and offered insight on the subject of minority recruitment.

‘You have to see where these people are coming from,’ she said, referring to international students and minorities settled in the United States. ‘Money is an issue. I don’t think there’s much you can do … They don’t care about anything else; they just want to help their families.’

Sgt. Freeman Finch, a black World War II veteran, spoke about his experiences in Nagasaki, Japan, in a completely segregated part of the army after he was drafted in 1945. He said he and the members of his battalion were given menial jobs, while white soldiers served as their superiors and had more important jobs.

‘All we did was build landing strips for the soldiers to land,’ he said. ‘We went (to Nagasaki) and served there cleaning up the mess they made there.’

Finch’s responsibilities also included cleaning up the dead bodies of Japanese soldiers before the white soldiers came with supplies.

Later, he was made a mess sergeant and was told to cook, something Finch said was not part of his job. When he refused, he said the Army reported him as missing in action. When he returned to the United States, his superiors wanted to court martial him because he returned alive.

‘We are giving you the facts that we have observed,’ Khan said, adding that he and his colleagues have nothing against the armed forces and fully support those who choose to enlist. ‘This is something that can’t be brushed off … War is not what we see on CNN.’

Along with listing complaints against the armed forces’ methods of recruiting minorities, the speakers also offered possible solutions to the problem. Some solutions the speakers proposed were programs for young Latinos to educate them about the realities of war and petitions to the government to end unfair recruitment and restrict access to sensitive school documents.

‘This is statistically true: (many) minorities do not believe in what they are fighting for,’ Khan said.

Published on March 31, 2005 at 12:00 pm