Abstract
Not only is the problem longstanding, it has been well documented time and again without any substantive progress. In fact, the representation of senior African Americans military leaders in the U.S. armed forces has remained essentially unchanged over the past half century despite purported efforts on the part of the U.S. government to effect meaningful changes in its personnel evaluation and promotion policies. Against this backdrop, it is vitally important to identify constraints to progress in order to develop and implement policies that can help address this challenging problem. To this end, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify the main reasons behind the inordinate representation rates of African Americans in senior leadership positions in the U.S. armed forces today in order to formulate appropriate and timely recommendations to address this constraint in the future.
Table of Contents
Abstract ..
Chapter One: Introduction ..
Chapter Two: Review of Literature ..
Chapter Three: Methods ..
Chapter Four: Results ..
Chapter Five: Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations ..
Why There are Few African-American Military Officers in Senior Leadership Positions
Chapter One: Introduction
Today, of the approximately 1.3 million men and women on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, fully 43%, or about 560,000 individuals, are African Americans (Cooper, 2020). At present, however, there is a stark and persistent paucity of senior leaders among these African Americans servicepeople among the more than half million servicepersons in the military. Indeed, these disparate representation rates have remained stagnated for more than a half century with little or no substantive progress having been made in reducing these disparities. Although there are some encouraging signs emanating from the White House and Pentagon at present that promise to improve the promotion opportunities for African Americans to attain top leadership positions in the future, the process requires time and some observers suggest time is no longer a luxury that the U.S. armed forces enjoy.
The purpose of this mixed methods study using a qualitative literature review and quantitative data concerning the key reasons behind the inordinate representation rates of African Americans in senior leadership positions in the U.S. armed forces at present. Providing a qualitative and quantitative analysis showing the differences in African Americans and their counter-parts, will be beneficial to address the lack of diversity in senior leadership positions. A qualitative literature review of peer-reviewed and scholarly resources together with a quantitative analysis of existing surveys will show what barriers are prohibiting African-Americans officers from reaching those senior positions. Finally, recommendations to decrease the racial imbalance in the Armed Forces will be identified.
Introduction
The experience of African Americans in the U.S. armed forces is inexorably tied to more than 350 years of slavery which began in the early 1600s and the Jim Crow era which resulted in a nadir in American racial relations during the early part of the 20th century (Kendrick, 1998). Despite these brutally challenging and dehumanizing experiences and the obstacles in their path to equality, African Americans have served with honor and distinction in every war that has been fought by the United States, including the Revolutionary War. In fact, according to Ender and his associates (2015), Indeed, a Black, 47-year-old, runaway slave named Crispus Attucks was the first American killed by a British soldier [...] in the course of events which would lead to independence in the United States (p. 231).
One of the especially noteworthy aspects of this early commitment by African Americans to defend the United States is the fact that they were actually exempted from the U.S. Militia Act of 1792 which mandated involuntary military construction for all males, but which was subsequently interpreted to mean that these provisions did not…
Abstract
Not only is the problem longstanding, it has been well documented time and again without any substantive progress. In fact, the representation of senior African Americans military leaders in the U.S. armed forces has remained essentially unchanged over the past half century despite purported efforts on the part of the U.S. government to effect meaningful changes in its personnel evaluation and promotion policies. Against this backdrop, it is vitally important to identify constraints to progress in order to develop and implement policies that can help address this challenging problem. To this end, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify the main reasons behind the inordinate representation rates of African Americans in senior leadership positions in the U.S. armed forces today in order to formulate appropriate and timely recommendations to address this constraint in the future.
Table of Contents
Abstract ..
Chapter One: Introduction ..
Chapter Two: Review of Literature ..
Chapter Three: Methods ..
Chapter Four: Results ..
Chapter Five: Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations ..
Why There are Few African-American Military Officers in Senior Leadership Positions
Chapter One: Introduction
Today, of the approximately 1.3 million men and women on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, fully 43%, or about 560,000 individuals, are African Americans (Cooper, 2020). At present, however, there is a stark and persistent paucity of senior leaders among these African Americans servicepeople among the more than half million servicepersons in the military. Indeed, these disparate representation rates have remained stagnated for more than a half centuy with little or no substantive progress having been made in reducing these disparities. Although there are some encouraging signs emanating from the White House and Pentagon at present that promise to improve the promotion opportunities for African Americans to attain top leadership positions in the future, the process requires time and some observers suggest time is no longer a…
Abstract
Not only is the problem longstanding, it has been well documented time and again without any substantive progress. In fact, the representation of senior African Americans military leaders in the U.S. armed forces has remained essentially unchanged over the past half century despite purported efforts on the part of the U.S. government to effect meaningful changes in its personnel evaluation and promotion policies. Against this backdrop, it is vitally important to identify constraints to progress in order to develop and implement policies that can help address this challenging problem. To this end, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify the main reasons behind the inordinate representation rates of African Americans in senior leadership positions in the U.S. armed forces today in order to formulate appropriate and timely recommendations to address this constraint in the future.
Table of Contents
Abstract ..
Chapter One: Introduction ..
Chapter Two: Review of Literature ..
Chapter Three: Methods ..
Chapter Four: Results ..
Chapter Five: Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations ..
Why There are Few African-American Military Officers in Senior Leadership Positions
Chapter One: Introduction
Today, of the approximately 1.3 million men and women on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, fully 43%, or about 560,000 individuals, are African Americans (Cooper, 2020). At present, however, there is a stark and persistent paucity of senior leaders among these African Americans servicepeople among the more than half million servicepersons in the military. Indeed, these disparate representation rates have remained stagnated for more than a half century with little or no substantive progress having been made in reducing these disparities. Although there are some encouraging signs emanating from the White House and Pentagon at present that promise to improve the promotion opportunities for African Americans to attain top leadership positions in the future, the process requires time and some observers suggest time is no longer a luxury that the U.S. armed forces enjoy.
The purpose of this mixed methods study using a qualitative literature review and quantitative data concerning the key reasons behind the inordinate representation rates of African Americans in senior leadership positions in the U.S. armed forces at present. Providing a qualitative and quantitative analysis showing the differences in African Americans and their counter-parts, will be beneficial to address the lack of diversity in senior leadership positions. A qualitative literature review of peer-reviewed and scholarly resources together with a quantitative analysis of existing surveys will show what barriers are prohibiting African-Americans officers from reaching those senior positions. Finally, recommendations to decrease the racial imbalance in the Armed Forces will be identified.
Introduction
The experience of African Americans in the U.S. armed forces is inexorably...
Despite these brutally challenging and dehumanizing experiences and the obstacles in their path to equality, African Americans have served with honor and distinction in every war that has been fought by the United States, including the Revolutionary War. In fact, accordi...
....Attucks was the first American killed by a British soldier [...] in the course of events which would lead to independence in the United States (p. 231).
One of the especially noteworthy aspects of this early commitment by African Americans to defend the United States is the fact that they were actually exempted from the U.S. Militia Act of 1792 which mandated involuntary military construction for all males, but which was subsequently interpreted to mean that these provisions did not apply to blacks, free or otherwise (Ender et al., 2015). Nevertheless, and despite fighting against one white supremacist government on behalf of the similarly constituted United States and being treated far differently from their white counterparts, African Americans have historically served the country as members of the armed forces. In this regard, Ender et al. (2015) point out that, Yet, in the new United States, African-Americans continued to serve in times of war in particular, in the War of 1812, and the Mexican Wars but their status as soldier was second class at best (p. 231). Furthermore, and despite offers of their freedom by the embattled and struggling Confederacy if the South prevailed in the Civil War (an offer that profoundly contradicted the fundamental precepts upon which the Confederacy was founded), African Americans also played an important part on winning the Civil War. As Ender and his colleagues conclude, Slavery ends in the United States following the American Civil War, where African-Americans made significant military contributions to the North winning the war. Estimates are that 200,000 served and 27,000 died [and] their service showed a propensity to fight for country (2015, p. 232).
It is also important to note that despite being relegated to a second-class citizen role during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, African Americans continued their tradition of military service to the country even when they were compelled to serve in segregated units. These trends, though, did help to further underscore the need for senior African American military leaders to command these segregated units, including the famed Buffalo soldiers in the Indian and Spanish American Wars. Consequently, Henry O. Flipper became the first African American graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1877 as a direct result, with another 24 blacks graduating from the academy by the fin de sicle (Ender et al., 2015).
Although race relations remained strained during the first decades of the 20th century, growing numbers of African American men and women came to regard service in the armed forces as a viable path towards greater social equality, and these views became especially pronounced following the entry of the United States into the bloody battlefields of World War I. Here again, however, despite their honorable and even heroic service to the nation, the very same African American men and women were once again relegated to a second-class citizen status once the war had been won (Ender et al., 2015).
Things began to change in more substantive ways, though, during and following Americas existential challenges in World War II. For instance, according to Ender et al., World War II facilitatedcontinued struggle on the part of African-Americans to serve in the military and they did so with gallantry. That effort propelled them demonstratively forward in the struggle for both military and societal integration (p. 233). This particular struggle was resolved by Executive Order No. 9981 promulgated by President Harry S. Truman in 1948 which desegregated military units which would go on to fight the battles of the Korean and Vietnam wars. These contributions to the nations defense and security were responsible, at least in part, for the grudging acceptance of the Civil Rights Act and subsequent federal legislation that was designed to guarantee African Americans their fundamental constitutional civil rights.
In what can be regarded as yet another historic turning point for African Americans serving their country in the military, the percentage of blacks in the armed forces remained consistently high even after the end of conscription and the introduction of the All-Volunteer Force in 1973. Since that time, African American representation in the U.S. armed forces has consistently outpaced their representation in the general American population, a trend that continues to the present day, a trend that is examined in more depth in Chapter Four which follows below. These trends have remained fairly high despite the end of the AVF in 1973, and African American representation in the U.S. armed forces has remained higher than their corresponding representation in the general American population, a reality that further underscores their commitment to serving and protecting the nation.
Notwithstanding this lengthy track record of military service, the numbers of African Americans enlisting in the armed forces has been on the decline, most notably in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, a trend which became evident following the cessation of hostilities in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The decline in enlistments in the U.S. Army and Marines is noteworthy because these two services are tasked with executing the ground component of warfare on land, making them the indispensable boots on the ground that are still required for conventional war.
Although these recent modest declines in enlistments in these two critical service branches has succeeded in bringing the representation of African Americans more in line with their overall representation in the American population, the U.S. military still provides invaluable career opportunities for many African Americans who might not be able to secure these benefits elsewhere (Segal & Thanner, 2007). In this regard, Ender et al. conclude that, While their numbers are currently more in line with their proportional representation in the larger society, previous representation suggested both a tradition of service and patriotism, and providing the African-American community with a major path towards career development not found in the civilian economy (p. 233). These opportunities, however, are also characterized by the fact that minorities in general and African Americans in particular consider themselves far more likely to be assigned to hazardous combat scenarios such as those witnessed in Korea and Vietnam, a perception that is further affected by ongoing reports of institutionalized racism in the armed forces over the past 30 years or so (Ender et al., 2015).
Notwithstanding the multiple benefits that accrue to individuals that serve in the armed forces, the combined effects of these negative perceptions on the part of many African Americans may help explain the current dearth of top-ranking black leaders in the U.S. military. As examined further in the literature review that follows immediately below, there have been some exceptions, most notably the assignment of retired four-star Army general Lloyd Austin as the first African American Secretary of Defense, but promotion opportunities have been bleak for the vast majority of black officers in recent years. For instance, according to Brook (2020), The lack of Black officers in the Armys combat commands has diminished the chances for diversity in military leadership for years to come, resulting in a nearly all-white leadership of an increasingly diverse military and nation. The Army, the largest of the armed services, has made little progress in promoting officers of color, particularly Black soldiers, to commands in the past six years (para. 4).
This failure has made sources, of course, but much of the blame has been assigned to the former executive administration whic
