America's Wire Releases Article By Retired Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett Discussing The Importance Of Maintaining Diversity In The Military
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WASHINGTON, July 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's Wire today released an article by Retired Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett, who writes about the importance of maintaining diversity in the military. Barnett cites the need for the military to continue its push for diversity and acknowledges the hurdles that youths of color often face when seeking to join the Armed Services.
"The U.S. military has led the way over the last sixty-five years to increase opportunity for millions of Americans through its leadership in recruiting a diverse and effective force," Adm. Barnett writes. "For our nation to dramatically increase the number of young people who can qualify for military service, it will require not only continued efforts to make improvements by all service branches but also partnerships with and leadership from other sectors of American society."
Adm. Barnett adds: "The barriers for young people to qualify for service include disparities in opportunity driven by historical segregation and inequities in access to quality education, early childhood programs, affordable quality food, and health care."
He calls for several measure to address these barriers, such as taking steps to eliminate both conscious and unconscious racism from the Armed Forces; supporting evidence-based public investments in vulnerable children; promoting the essential discussions about race that can increase understanding of unconscious bias, advance racial healing and "put racism in front of us, so we can put racism behind us."
Adm. Barnett served for 32 years in the U.S. Navy and is a member of Mission: Readiness, a nonpartisan national security organization of senior retired military leaders calling for smart investments in America's children.
His article is available free of charge from America's Wire. Go to www.Americaswire.org and click downloads (right column). America's Wire provides mainstream newspapers, community papers, websites, ethnic publications and wire services with stories reporting on structural inequities and the communities impacted. Adm. Barnett's article first appeared in STARS and STRIPES, and is being distributed by America's Wire with permission.
America's Wire is an independent, nonprofit news service run by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. Stories can be republished free of charge. For more information, visit www.americaswire.org or contact Michael K. Frisby, 202-625-4328 or firstname.lastname@example.org. )
SOURCE America’s Wire