A "Sixty Minutes" feature this evening reported widespread belief by African American soldiers (sailors, airmen) and officers that throughout their careers they have had to "prove themselves" over and over, in the face of widespread belief (prejudice) of their inferiority on the part of their [white] commanding officers.
Undoubtedly true.
I remember seeing an interview with Calvin Murphy (short NBA star) many years ago, when he noted the number of times when he would be traveling with his teammates, and people would come up to him (a 5'9" NBA perennial All Star), and ask him if the other guys - much taller, obviously - were professional basketball players. Those people assumed that because he was only 5'9" tall, he was obviously not one of the NBA players in the crowd. I wonder if Murphy ever had to "prove himself" as he progressed from grade school to HS to college and the NBA.
Are these phenomena analogous?
The veterans participating on this site are probably aware that enlisted recruits used to be required to take a battery of aptitude and intelligence tests, the scores of which remained part of the soldier's personnel file for their entire careers. In the Army, the "GT" score (an average of two test scores, verbal and arithmetical), was analogous to an IQ test, however with a 20-point standard deviation rather than 15 on IQ tests. Of the thousands of DD Form 20's that I saw during my three years working in Personnel, I may have seen 10 "Negroes" with GT scores over 120. And this is not exceptionally bright, just a little better than average. Officers who were selecting soldiers for special assignments, promotions, and higher-level training were aware of this discrepancy, and if a Black soldier were recommended that Officer (or panel) was aware of this factor and the Black soldier had to "prove himself" to get that honor or assignment.
Rightly so.
And as a result, the percentage of military enlisted men advancing was not the same as the percentage of Blacks in the overall enlisted ranks. It shouldn't be. I have no doubt the same factors apply in the Officer ranks. The same phenomenon explains why 13% of STEM PhD's are not African American (and most are in very soft academic fields).
So now the Biden Administration will force a top-down demand that Blacks be promoted over better qualified "whites" in order to satisfy Joe Biden's white guilt. Just like he did with his choice of a VP.
Will this make us better at preventing wars, killing people and breaking stuff?
Hardly.
Undoubtedly true.
I remember seeing an interview with Calvin Murphy (short NBA star) many years ago, when he noted the number of times when he would be traveling with his teammates, and people would come up to him (a 5'9" NBA perennial All Star), and ask him if the other guys - much taller, obviously - were professional basketball players. Those people assumed that because he was only 5'9" tall, he was obviously not one of the NBA players in the crowd. I wonder if Murphy ever had to "prove himself" as he progressed from grade school to HS to college and the NBA.
Are these phenomena analogous?
The veterans participating on this site are probably aware that enlisted recruits used to be required to take a battery of aptitude and intelligence tests, the scores of which remained part of the soldier's personnel file for their entire careers. In the Army, the "GT" score (an average of two test scores, verbal and arithmetical), was analogous to an IQ test, however with a 20-point standard deviation rather than 15 on IQ tests. Of the thousands of DD Form 20's that I saw during my three years working in Personnel, I may have seen 10 "Negroes" with GT scores over 120. And this is not exceptionally bright, just a little better than average. Officers who were selecting soldiers for special assignments, promotions, and higher-level training were aware of this discrepancy, and if a Black soldier were recommended that Officer (or panel) was aware of this factor and the Black soldier had to "prove himself" to get that honor or assignment.
Rightly so.
And as a result, the percentage of military enlisted men advancing was not the same as the percentage of Blacks in the overall enlisted ranks. It shouldn't be. I have no doubt the same factors apply in the Officer ranks. The same phenomenon explains why 13% of STEM PhD's are not African American (and most are in very soft academic fields).
So now the Biden Administration will force a top-down demand that Blacks be promoted over better qualified "whites" in order to satisfy Joe Biden's white guilt. Just like he did with his choice of a VP.
Will this make us better at preventing wars, killing people and breaking stuff?
Hardly.