Voluntary Racial Separation by Blacks in the Army

摘要

This paper reports participant-observation research designed to explore and understand a reported pattern of voluntary separation by black soldiers from whites. The research was undertaken because of the Army's concern with violent black/white confrontations and other indications of extreme racial separation on some Army installations: in the company areas, the mess halls, the Enlisted Men's (EM) and Non-Commissioned Officers' (NCO) clubs, and elsewhere on the post as well as in the host communities. The term 'polarization' is frequently heard in connection with these happenings; but it is neither well-defined nor consistently or objectively used in either the social sciences or in the military. While the very concept implies a pulling apart or separation by both blacks and whites, the label is ordinarily applied only to the black minority, disparagingly: 'racial polarization' is assumed to be initiated by blacks for the purpose of attacking whites. The separating minority is faulted and feared; action is undertaken to reduce this polarization in order to promote military unity and effectiveness.