January 21, 2003
Dear President Koester,
We are witnessing a massive buildup of U.S. military forces around Iraq in preparation for war. There is an ongoing drive by the military to assure that plenty of young men and women are enlisted and trained to engage in military combat. However, the sons and daughters of our political leaders and the wealthy will not be subject to death, injury, and the psychological traumas of the wars promoted by their parents. Instead it will be the sons and daughters of poor and working people.
The Army's interest in CSUN's Hispanic students is part of the military's current and historical trend towards recruiting poor and working class youth, especially Latinos and African Americans, to serve in our nation's military. The Army's stated purpose at CSUN is to "expand Hispanic access to Army officership by providing Senior ROTC instruction…" The Army may perceive CSUN as a military recruiter's dream location because of its large Hispanic population (at least 25%) and overwhelmingly working class student population. What might be the price we pay for allowing the military to recruit and train CSUN students on our campus?
Historically Latinos have died serving this nation in percentages disproportionate to Latino representation in the total population. Twenty eight percent of the names on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC are Latino (Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Report). Over 50% of front-line troops for Operation Desert Storm were people of color with a large percentage of these Latinos. Currently one in four Gulf War veterans are receiving some type of disability pay as the result of being certified at least partially disabled (2003 Report Citizen Soldier). The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) tends to be located in communities of color with high levels of poverty, unemployment, dropout rates, and poor quality education. It is not surprising that Latino and African American youth are especially vulnerable to military recruiters' promises of job training and education. Unfortunately, many recruits find that military training does not translate into civilian jobs. Toni Joseph writing in the Wall Street Journal (1985) described the rude awakening for many veterans. "Unemployment among post-Vietnam veterans was 9.7% in the third quarter, compared with an overall rate of 7.2%. For Black male veterans, the rate was 16.5% compared with 14.8% for Black males overall."
This form of "economic conscription" or the "poverty draft" is deeply troubling and unjust. So very few Latinos and African Americans make it to college with even fewer graduating and going on to more advanced degrees. It is extremely painful and insulting to the Latino community to see our youth siphoned off at such disproportionate rates for military service. This is not the dream we have for our children or those of anyone else. We do not want CSUN to provide the U.S Army with the resources and access to our students to help perpetuate this injustice.
Your stated principal reason for signing the agreement with the U.S. Army is the potential loss of 8 million dollars in federal funding to CSUN. Without a doubt this would be a serious loss to the important and significant work of these projects and programs. However, what is the message we send to our students and the community when we endorse the militarization of our campus and the military targeting of Hispanic students in exchange for maintaining these funds? How many human lives and/or injuries is 8 million dollars worth? What a powerful message you could send to our government leaders, the nation, the community, and our students if you would stand up and refuse to be a cog in the military war machine.
I believe that the desire for our students to develop a principled morality,
to participate fully in a democracy, to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to
think critically and analytically are goals which you, I, and many of my colleagues
share on the CSUN campus. ROTC on our campus is antithetical to such goals.
Militarizing our campus is not conducive to developing free and independent
thinkers and doers. I think it fitting in this month in which we honor the memory
of Dr. Martin Luther King that we take time to consider some of his teachings
and actions. Regarding peace Dr. King said:
I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down
a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe
that the unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.
Dr. King took a very unpopular position in favor of peace during the Vietnam
War. In 1965 he said: "I'm not going to sit by and see war escalated without
saying anything about it. It is worthless to talk about integration if there
is no world to integrate. The war in Vietnam must be stopped." Many of
Dr. King's fellow ministers believed that his position was not politically wise.
In the same vein a decision on your part to terminate the ROTC contract between
the United States Army and CSUN may not be advantageous politically. It may
mean the loss of a large amount of federal funding. It may even mean that your
own position as president comes under fire. All of these things are possible
and yet I urge you to muster the moral courage necessary to terminate the agreement
with the United States Army because it is the right thing to do.
Sincerely,
Rosa Furumoto
Assistant Professor, Chicana/o Studies Department