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Student Says Bush Employing “Poverty Draft” | Missouri Political News Service

Student Says Bush Employing “Poverty Draft”

November 28th, 2007 by mopns · No Comments

From The Current: (University of Missouri – St. Louis)

By Justi Montague

Have you ever thought about joining a branch of the military to help out with college costs? I have.

It seems like the perfect ride, you are offered stability, employment, a college education, personal development and even a chance to see the world.

Who could turn that down? Poor children in urban schools cannot. That is how the poverty draft was created.

The poverty draft is a policy that targets young people in low-income communities for military recruitment. The military uses the rampant poverty and the uncertain futures of high school students as a means to entice them into military service.

It all looks good on the outside right? Wrong. The poverty draft has a hard racist edge to it. The military specifically targets schools that have a large population of African American and Latino students.

There is one large reason for the joining up of these low income high school students by the thousands. It is the deliberate cut in funding for public schools in America to give more money to corporations, the wealthy and the military. Read more…

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Tags: Iraq War

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  • 1 Puggg // Nov 28, 2007 at 11:56 am

    What cuts in education? Last I looked, education spending goes up every year. If college tuition is higher than ever, it is because college administrators have virtual permission to raise tuition year in and year out because of the existence of governmental tuition aid, and with the recent Nancy Pelosi-driven interest rate cuts for student loans, this means that they can raise tuition even higher.

    Also, what if the Armed Forces decided not to recruit in black and Hispanic areas? The author of this piece might be the first in line to accuse the Penatgon of “racism” in “trying to keep blacks and Latinos out.”

    As far as the claim that they’re only recruiting blacks and Hispanics, then s/he must not know anyone with teenaged and young adult-aged children in, e.g. St. Charles County. Someone I know who has two daughters, one 17 and one 20, both white, both under 5’4″, and both could be blown over by a stiff breeze, are constantly getting mail and calls from military recruiters from just about every branch of the Armed Forces, including the Reserve and the N.G.

  • 2 Puggg // Dec 1, 2007 at 9:38 pm

    Also, black enlistment in the Armed Forces is way down. If there is some sort of conspiracy to “carrot” them with the military and “stick” them with a “bad economy,” they’re not buying it.

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