U.S. Army recruiters have landed on one of New York's most hallowed Latino landmarks, Orchard Beach. They turned up at the annual Sunday summer series of on-the-beach bashes on Bronx sand, not to boogie but to bag Latino recruits. The military has been going all out to replace with Latinos its dwindling stock of volunteers now that African-American enlistments have dipped, alarming the brass.
The New York Times, covering the story, noted the recruiters' mixed reception, those unhospitable being led by two Bronx elected officials, Assemblyman Jose Rivera and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito.
In addition to the obvious dangers faced by ground troops in Iraq, as well as the growing unpopularity of this and the war in Afghanistan, two articles, one a recent excellent read from In These Times, the other, ours of an earlier vintage, report on the lengths and less than honorable tactics recruiters are going to in order to lure Latinos into life, limb and sanity-menacing service. Of special note are nearly always empty promises to legitimize the undocumented.
Read and tell us what you think:
The Times:
At Bronx Latino Festival, the Army Sponsors the MusicIn These Times (
and we ask your indulgence to forgive the lapse of this excellent journal with the repeated use of "illegal immigrants" instead of a term, like "undocumented worker," that doesn't delegitimize one's whole being for committing but one-questionably illegal--act):
Illegal Immigrants: Uncle Sam Wants YouAnd ours, the
Hispanic American Village's piece of a few years ago, when Latino casualties began to ring a bell nation-wide, examining some of the tricks and tactics used to get Latino kids to sign up and away:
The Military: What's in it for Latinos/as?
