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This is not a recent occurrence. Rebel flags at Drum & Schofield in 1990s, 1 soldier didn't want me as team leader. buff.ly/2xlfiVD
Before the earth cooled, I was also warned to not go to the Hidden Door, EM club at Benning. Sure enough, "what's the chink doing here?"
Got my ass stomped but good by a bunch of white boys in cowboy boots & Stetsons. I recognized at least 1 NCO, a supply sgt @ airborne school
While I lay bleeding in the parking lot, this model NCO told my friend, "back off if you know what's good for you, n----r." Fun times.
My favorite was the Joe from WV w/ a rebel flag in his room, rebel flag on his car, who accused his team leader (me) of racism.
Then you join the "Blue & Gray" MD/VA NG Division, where the VA half still called itself the Stonewall Bde.
I used to fuck with the VA boys, "if we go to war again, please promise to not kill the CG. Y'all kind of have a history of that."
Then you realize no minorities get promoted past SSG, it sours you on the NG, & years later you regret not transferring to NY or NJ.
Bottom line, though, if you're surprised by this article's findings, shame on you for being so goddamn blind, willfully or otherwise.
We, minority soldiers, have lived with it, dealt with it, for ages. This. Is. Not. New. Many of us just put our heads down & tried to work.
"There is only dark green & light green in this unit, not white or black." The good leaders lived this. Countless others, not so much.
Things have gotten better on the active side, but I dare @MilitaryTimes to do a similar deep dive of Reserve Component units in the South.
Ask why almost every senior leader in those units is white. There isn't exactly a dearth of minority talent in those states.
Or are these minority soldiers, like I did years back, simply voting with their feet once their contracts expire?
