JROTC does not serve youth of color
Proposition V, the last one on the ballot, deserves to be soundly defeated. The school board is in the process of phasing out and replacing JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps). “JROTC is one of the best recruiting devices we could have.” Those are the words of former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. The Pentagon and its allies put Proposition V on the ballot to try to reverse the school board’s courageous decision to get the homophobic military out of our schools.
Some have argued that JROTC is a program that serves youth of color, and that trying to get the Pentagon’s favorite recruiting tool out of our schools is a “middle class white people” thing. That argument turns reality upside down. Of course the Pentagon targets young people of color, especially low-income youth – because that’s who they target for recruitment. Tracking us into the military so we can fight rich white men’s wars is not the kind of “leg up” we need. We deserve the same educational and career opportunities as everybody else, thank you.
Let’s get the Pentagon’s racist predators out of our schools. Vote NO NO NO on Proposition V.
San Francisco Bay Times
October 30, 2008