Joining Military Could Save Lives

As Published by the Washington Times, 7/23/15

There is a lot to be said about the mass incarceration of thousands of black men in America--not to be upstaged by the rash of killings of unarmed black men and women at the hands of law enforcement officers as well. But are there any real solutions to stopping the bloodshed, and helping black families’ deal with all of the issues that stem from fatherless households?

Joining the Union Army (the North) was an option for thousands of enslaved black men during the Civil War in 1861. Nearly 200,000 black men enlisted with the promise of freedom, through the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862.  Although nearly 40,000 black soldiers died, they served with distinction facing racial discrimination and other brutal travesties inflicted by the Confederate Army.

"The Civil War helped to emancipate and empower black soldiers.It also affirmed the leadership and courage that black men had in times ofgreat conflict, disparity and unrest."   

     

Joining the U.S. military may not be the best option for men of color today, who have to avoid confrontations with raciest police officers on a daily basis in order to stay alive, or not be sent to prison for possible life--but it is the safest. There is an old saying; If you can’t beat them join them. We are living in a country whereby “join them” hasn’t always been an option for black men, or any man of color for that matter.  But at the current rate of imprisonment of black men, it is a decision that could very well restore black families where children of incarcerated parents are often faced with emotional, psychological, physical, and economic traumas and possibly keep many young black men alive.    

Maybe the Confederate flag coming down at the South Carolina Capitol is a sign of institutionalized racism being defeated--and our challenges’ as we look ahead as black men and women to finally begin to deal with the social and economic scars left behind.  

"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship."  -Frederick Douglass

By William J. Booker, As Published in the Washington Times, 07/23/15:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/23/letter-to-the-editor-joining-military-could-save-l/