From: barnhart@ddsw1.mcs.com (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: Re: [clari] Dole, Nunn urge Clinton to go slow lifting ban on gays
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 04:14:25 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

kadie@cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie) wrote:
:[A repost - Carl]
:
:From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
:Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.usa,clari.news.military,clari.news.group.gays,clari.local.new_york,clari.news.top
:Subject: Dole, Nunn urge Clinton to go slow lifting ban on gays
:Message-ID: <gaysU2NF151pe@clarinet.com>
:Date: Sun, 15 Nov 92 10:52:49 PST
:
:	WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Senate Republican leader Robert Dole, warning that
:Congress might not support the move, urged President-elect Bill Clinton
:Sunday to go slow in lifting the ban on gays in the military. [...]
:	If the policy is changed ``overnight,'' Nunn said, ``I fear for the
:lives of people in the military themselves. I think there could be some
:very emotional feelings, so I would prefer that it be stretched out over
:a period of time.''

My first reaction to this was, "It figures, Bob Dole," but then I dug
up this article by sociologist Charlie Moskos, reprinted w/o permission
from the New Republic, 8/5/1991.  It's about the Army's success in
healing another sensitive blind spot in our country's vision of 
equality.

"... The Army's stated goal is absolute commitment to equal opportunity
and non-discrimination regardless of race -- with no qualifications.  This
principle is no longer debated at any level in the military.  By contrast,
equal opportunity for women is also a stated principle, but the role of
women continues to be a roiling source of contention.

"An important symbol of the Army's emphasis on non-discrimination is found
in the officer evaluation report.  Among the 14 categories in the
evaluation, one states: 'supports equal opportunity.'  Normally these
reports are completed by the immediate supervisor and reviewd by the
next highest person in the chain of command.  A similar evaluation system
operates for sergeants.  Anything less than a favorable rating in this
category means the end of one's military career." ...

"A soldier being harassed by a sergeant of the same race soon abandons
notions that common racial origin overrides all, especially when his
misery is being shared by a person of another race.  The social barriers
in the Army lie not so much between whites and blacks as between lower-
ranking soldiers and sergeants, and between enlisted persons and 
officers."  ...

"In the late '70s an extraordinary 12 to 14 hours were devoted to race
relations in basic training, with followup throughout the soldier's
term of service.  NCOs as well as recruits were required to take race
relations training.  many white soldiers resented these courses,
considering them exercises in white guilt.  But studies showed the
courses did make whites more attuned to black feelings once the
accusatory tone of the earlier courses was replaced by a 'how do
we solve this problem?' approach [of the role playing sessions].
... As a sign of the times, the emphasis has shifted toward sexual
harassment issues."

Best of luck, army.


Aaron
Xref: sparky alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk:3453 soc.college:4981