Chapter 12: Conclusion – “We hold these truths to be self-evident” 

When 56 men formally signed the Declaration of Independence, and 39 signed the United States Constitution, the Matrix of Race was ratified, codified, and enshrined in the very fabric of our Nation. Already, for over 2 hundred years, a genocidal war had been waged against the Native People; their rights to humanity, land, and life itself had been nullified. Slavery had become law, women had been excluded, and economic divisions had become established. These defined the intersectional identities that would be incorporated into every institution, practice, and policy that would come to define the United States. And for 250 years, a continuous struggle has endured as the great masses of people have worked to be included in the edict “that all (people) are created equal, that their Creator endows them with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”.   This struggle not only summarizes our history as a Nation but also helps interpret the stories that comprise our collective experiences and our identities as a people.

“We the people” are defined by a set of choices, not biology; a set of structures, not intrinsic characteristics or culture; a set of stories of different groups, not a single story told by those in power; and a set of realities that shifts over time. The Matrix of Race captures the multiple components of our intersectional identities operating within various, interlocking institutions across time and geography. This has been our journey, and this we shall explore in this final chapter and conclusion. 

If any real change is going to come, it must come from “We the People”.  This change starts by recognizing that race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and all other identities are not based in biology, but are social creations.  Change continues as we become aware of the various stories that comprise our histories.  It’s strange that from 2021 to 2025, close to 23,000 books have been banned across 45 states and 451 school districts.  These bans have targeted primarily those dealing with race, racism, LGBTQ+ topics, sexual content, and sexual violence.  (Tolin 2025) Similarly, federal and state official websites, buildings, and programs have been removing the histories, images, and artifacts of these same groups.   (Jingnam & Lawrence, 2025)  

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in 2009, warned us of the “Danger of a Single Story.” Such stories reduce the other to being perpetual victims, constantly suffering, poor, deviant, and without hope.  The present-day political realities are that racial, gendered, sexual, and ethnic groups are reduced to being “the other”.  Never do they achieve full American identity, never are they seen as central to the Nation’s history.  LGTQ+ individuals are constantly defined as deviants and immoral, Mexicans are deemed criminals, Asians are forever immigrants, Blacks are culturally and morally bankrupt, and Native Americans are hopeless.  These are the elements we define as stock stories in The Matrix of Race.  Throughout this volume, we have demonstrated the important corrective role of “hidden, transformational, and resistance” stories.   Our journey began with an exploration of Race and the Social Construction of Difference.

Chapter 1: Race and the Social Construction of Difference

American history depicts a stock story in which, in search of liberty, a single group of people established our government.  We began correcting this story by demonstrating that we are indeed a country of immigrants.  These immigrants and the diversity they have brought with them define us as a nation.  by examining how immigration has been one of the constants that have defined our Nation.  Another myth is that race is a monolith, where all share some common identity, values, status, and realities.  Again, we discussed the hidden story of how race and difference constitute a series of choices, often made by those in power, that have shaped our nation. 

From this point, we explored how each major racial group, both historically and contemporarily, comprises dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct groups with separate cultures, practices, languages, and often distinct experiences.

 It is these realities that constitute history and help us understand our shared past. Race derives from human interventions, which have led to systems of oppression that we label racism.  Racism throughout our history has served to subordinate targeted racial, religious, and linguistic groups.  Racial hierarchies have been created as a consequence of these processes.  These processes, when coupled with gender, class, and other social identities, create the complex webs that define the Matrix.  These become embedded within our laws, policies, practices, codes of conduct, and ultimately serve to normalize racial boundaries. 

Finally, as we examine how these identities are shaped, both within society and across institutions, we learn how change can be achieved.  We are agents of change.  We can choose to actively participate in system maintenance by telling derogatory jokes, putting people down, or discriminating against members of select groups.  We can deny that such discrimination either does not exist or it is not that bad.  We can recognize but choose to do nothing; it’s not our problem.  We can become educated and take action by educating others, providing support and allyship, and creating social movements that work to bring about change through legislative action and organizational change. But nothing can happen unless we first discover our own stories.   

Chapter 2: The Shaping of a Nation

Historically, immigration has been one of the central features of the United States.  Because of the constant flow of immigrants, the demographics, as well as racial categories, continue to evolve and transform our Nation.  Gender is also evolving, as the status of women, particularly women of color, has increasingly moved into higher-income categories.  Unfortunately, popular culture, social media, and technology perpetuate social, ethnic, racial, gender, and economic misinformation.

Recently, we have begun exploring how this misinformation can be traced back to the “discovery” of America.   This has resulted in a revision of that discovery, explaining it was more like an invasion.  An invasion that initially characterized Native Americans, according to a Papal Decree, Native Americans as savages and landless.

Today, we revise that stock story and replace it with the rich history of the millions of people and hundreds of population groups, tribes, and linguistic and cultural systems.  These people, the Iroquois, Lakota, Apache, and hundreds of others, can be traced as early as 1090.  Each geographic region of the Americas was home to distinct groups of Native Americans. We can still see their impact in the very names of specific areas, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, and the Dakotas.  They built great cities and villages, with temples and multistory buildings.  They cultivated hundreds of crops (including tomatoes, quinoa, and peaches) and developed complex road systems that became the basis of our own agricultural and transportation systems. 

Consequently, when the Europeans began to explore the Americas, they encountered a rich, diverse, and advanced set of civilizations.  But rather than embracing these cultures, Europeans utilized religious ideologies to justify wars of aggression, exploitation, subjugation, extermination, enslavement, and colonization.  There were three different forms of colonies established. 

European settlements were developed by centralized colonial authorities derived from the colonizing nations, which controlled political, economic, social, and cultural mechanisms within the colonies. These mechanisms ultimately resulted in a specific form of colonial hierarchy, with the European elite at the top and indigenous and other groups occupying lower positions.   These hierarchies ultimately evolved into racial stratification, accompanied by ideological justifications.  Race and racism were born.  At the core of these racial hierarchies were racial boundaries defined by marriage, occupation, and ultimately enslavement.  These became the foundations for the shaping of our Nation.

In Part II,  we explore how the Matrix Perspective operates within specific institutions.   

 

Chapter 3: The Social Construction and Regulation of Families

Immigrants crossing our southern border have historically been targeted.  Recently, some of the most impacted have been the nearly 10 million children who live with the fear that their parents or other family members will be removed or deported at any time.  This trauma leads to increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, which lead to behavioral and physical changes.  These current issues point to the historical process by which the family developed in American society as an institution.

Contrary to the stock story regarding the family as a household headed by a father who operated as the chief wage earner, a mother who took charge of the domestic upkeep and duties within the home, and the principal nurturer and socializer of the couple’s biological children.   The reality is radically different.  Among the earliest inhabitants, Native American family forms were quite different, with multiple family forms and distributions of labor and power.  Gender also varied along with different family forms.  In some tribes, women were warriors, and in others, they were the peacemakers.  In some groups, there were matrilineal and/or matrilocal forms allowing either women or men to take the traditional roles, even allowing same sex marriages. 

As European became to colonize, they brought with them specific ideas regarding marriage.  Not only did women and children serve in essential family worker roles, but White women typically gave birth to from five to eight children.  With such high birth rates also came higher rates of death among both the mother and their children. 

Over time, Native Americans forced to live on reservations were also forced to accept the European notions of family.  Children were indoctrinated at boarding schools and forced to assimilate.  Although many Native Americans resisted, many others lost their culture, language, and history. 

As the Industrial Revolution emerged, jobs outside the home increased, and more White men left the domestic sphere entirely.  White women became more defined by their domestic roles.  Regardless, both women and children, in working-class families, were required to work to support their families.  Only in the emerging middle class did women see their roles increasingly defined as housewives and mothers. 

Racial boundaries would serve to maintain these distinctions, and immigration policies and laws were enacted.  The Page Act of 1875, defining Chinese women as “undesirables”, significantly limited their immigration into the U.S.  Japanese, while experiencing limited success at first, were yet subject to discrimination.  Their internment during World War II significantly impacted the families and their communities. 

Various theories have been developed to explain the different family forms, levels of success, and economic failures.  Our matrix perspective demonstrates that these ideologies and theories serve to reproduce race, gender, class, and sexual inequality while also preserving privileges.   

The Matrix approach demonstrates that families are social constructs with no single, natural family form.  Diversity of family forms has consistently existed and evolved across geography and local contexts.  Gender, and its definition, has also changed across history and cultures, leading to different family formations.  Racism and other systems of inequality have shaped and defined families in the U.S. context. Whose stories are often told is determined by these power systems.  The power of social movements has influenced not only which stories get told but also who gets to tell them. 

Chapter 4: Work and Wealth Inequity

Economic inequity and the organization of work are the principal sources of inequality across racial groups and other social identities such as class, gender, sexual orientation, ability/disability, and age.  The U.S. economy, based on a system of private ownership, has produced one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet one of the most unequal. 

Economic inequalities become most visible during times of stress, such as the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.  Most impacted were racial, class, and gendered groups that had the least amount of savings, lower rates of home ownership, and fewer assets.     While class typically describes economic inequality, we must understand that systemic inequalities and access to goods and services have historically impacted people of color and poor Whites.  Thus, even with higher levels of education, discrimination has perpetuated these inequalities. 

Systemic inequalities have been linked to occupational segregation, producing significant wage gaps among women in every racial category.  The “glass ceiling” limits women's advancement to the highest levels across major institutions in our society.  Women of color face even more extreme barriers, leading some to call it a “concrete ceiling”.  These disparities were made even worse in 2025 because of major policies implemented.  Federal hiring freezes and elimination disproportionately impacted Black workers.   The wealth gap has only grown larger, but the racial wealth gap is even larger. 

Racial wealth gaps are a consequence of historical processes.  Even as global and national trends increase wealth and enhance occupational prospects, racial wealth gaps continue.  Therefore, while Native Americans once lived on some of the most valuable/resource-rich lands, they now live in poverty on reservations and are among the poorest racial minority groups in the U.S.    African Americans, once enslaved, have experienced a history of continuous discrimination, redlining, violence, and limited opportunities.  Hispanics and many immigrant workers still face occupational segregation, lower pay, and disadvantages. As AI continues to transform the workplace, Black, Latino, and Indigenous workers find that they are the ones most likely to be disadvantaged.  All of these changes that systematically and negatively impact racial minorities demonstrate the efficacy of the Matrix approach to Economic inequality in the United States. 

The Matrix approach demonstrates that the reality of economic inequality is rooted in fundamental, evolving structures.  Historically, these structures have shaped racial inequality.  Ironically, while we still produce stock stories promoting the notion of equality and freedom, concealed, transformative, and resistance stories reveal how race, intersecting with other social identities, has served to create and recreate inequality. 

One of the principal stock stories of the United States is subsumed under the philosophy of Manifest Destiny.  This belief, justifying the exploitation, expansion, and control of lands throughout the American hemisphere, resulted in wars of aggression, land dispossession, and brutality.  The Industrial Revolution only magnified these forces both domestically and abroad, impacting Indigenous peoples, African Americans, Mexican Americans/Latinx, and Asian Americans.     Poor whites in agriculture, mining, and industry were also affected.  Even as unions developed,  industries expanded, and racial, ethnic, and gendered inequalities expanded. 

One of the benefits of union organizing in the 20^th Century, both in the United States and in most Western nations, was the institution of child labor laws, health and safety standards, a minimum wage, welfare programs, disability benefits, unemployment benefits, and workers' compensation.  But after decades of reform, public benefits have increasingly subsidized low-wage businesses at the expense of the taxpayers.  Therefore, corporations like Walmart, which rely on government aid for their employees, can justify paying meager salaries.  Recent federal immigration policy and enforcement have further disrupted immigrant-reliant sectors such as construction, food service, agriculture, and care/service workers.  A side benefit for working Americans is the benefits accrued by undocumented workers who pay into a Social Security system they have no access to. 

Several remedies have been advanced to reduce, if not eliminate, economic inequity.  These remedies range from forgiving student loan debt to slave reparations, revising the tax code, and making housing more affordable and available.  All of these are good ideas, but it takes acknowledging the reality of inequity and inequality, as well as the benefits many gain from unearned advantages.  By understanding the history and ongoing patterns that reproduce systemic inequalities, we can commit to making the necessary structural adjustments to address the problems.  Finally, it is by making these adjustments that we all benefit from a fair distribution of income and wealth. 

Chapter 5: Health, Medicine, and Health Care

 

Chapter 6: Education

Educational opportunities and segregation are woven into the fabric of the United States.  Education, therefore, serves to sustain and reinforce the racial, gendered, and economic hierarchies. These differences are seen in everything from expulsion to graduation rates and access to college and trade schools, which ultimately lead to material increases in earnings. 

Educational institutions do not operate in isolation but are affected by government policies, labor demands, and global and national trends.  When we consider the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we observe that many children, both in the U.S. and globally, will face long-term consequences.  These consequences will be more severe for those children who are racial minorities, such as Blacks, Native Americans, Asians, and Latinx, and those whose parents have less educational attainment.  Already, we see the impact in terms of public-school enrollment, where racial minorities are significantly underrepresented.  This ultimately leads to being markedly less able to graduate from high school and to attend undergraduate, graduate, or professional schools.

History has shaped our current educational institutions and outcomes.  Racialized institutions were first created as boarding schools for Native Americans whose principal aim was assimilation, not education.  With the end of the Civil War, segregated schools were developed to keep Blacks in domestic and subservient positions while providing limited skills for the emerging labor markets of both the North and South.   Increasing violence targeting Blacks led Booker T. Washington to advance the Atlanta Compromise, where Southern Blacks would agree to work but forgo their political ambitions and submit to white rule.  In exchange, Southern Whites would guarantee basic education for Blacks, allow due process in legal matters, and reduce intimidation and violence targeting Blacks. One year later, Jim Crow, the doctrine of separate but equal, was enshrined in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson.  It would take another 50 years before the Supreme Court, in another case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, would declare that separate was unequal.  Finally, in 1975 and 1990, we passed laws that finally began to treat those with various disabilities with dignity and access. 

Laws may change, but practices remain the same, as differential funding, local policy, and residential segregation continue to produce racial, gendered, and economic differentials in access and success.  These trends are best understood by applying the Matrix approach to education and race. 

The Matrix reveals that Education has several distinct pathways for individuals from different locations in the matrix.  The school's primary purpose is to preserve these pathways while socializing its members and developing their skills.  Examining history, education has served as an instrument of colonialism and imperialism.  Those in power utilized education as a conversion tool, aimed at producing racial and economic hierarchies, while justifying the exploitation of labor and extraction of resources. Not only was education a site for class construction, but it also served to produce cultural capital that reinforced the racial, gendered, and class hierarchies.  In the late 20^th century, racial groups such as Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous students fought for and ultimately developed ethnic studies programs to counteract this conversion and help liberate the minds of the students. 

From birth, we are born into a matrix defined by our gender, class, and race location within the socioeconomic structure.  Our places of birth also determine the level of community support and, in turn, the quality of education available to its residents.  These structures produce for some the school-to-prison pipeline in which Black, Latinx, and Native American schools achieve lower rates of success and higher rates of failure, surveillance, and school expulsions.  These factors contribute to increased dropout rates and, thus, the likelihood of criminality and prison. 

Educational reform can only be accomplished through reforms at the federal, state, and even corporate levels.  Educational justice can only be accomplished through educational equity. Educational equity can only be achieved through equitable funding for education.  But funding is not enough; we must also increase the number of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous male teachers, decrease food insecurity, enhance college and technical training preparation, and address student debt.  Only then can we begin to dismantle the cradle-to-prison pipeline. Ultimately, access to quality education at all levels for all people and groups is a fundamental right that must be guaranteed if we, as a Nation, are to provide educational justice to all.

 

Chapter 7: Crime and Deviance

Race, gender, and class disparities are represented in who gets defined as either criminal or deviant. Historically, these differentials can be traced to the slave codes, immigration policy, and the development of reservations for Native Americans. Taken together, these practices, policies, and laws account for the racially differentiated criminal justice system. Whiteness was created as a means of assuring that the racial state would be preserved. Laws were created to fortify this structure at the expense of people of color.

Contemporary trends in scholarship on crime and deviance highlight the racial, gendered, and class differentials in how justice is administered across the United States. These disparities are observed throughout the justice system, in differential policing, racial profiling, and differential sentencing and incarceration rates.

Our stock stories teach us that laws protect us; they are created to preserve peace, promote tranquility, and allow us to pursue our collective best interests. Our stock stories assume that the law is color-blind—enforced the same way everywhere, for everyone, and without concern for race, class, or other differences. Classical sociological theories of crime and deviance are part of our stock stories. As such, they reflect the dominant view that not only is our system just, but also those who violate the laws are appropriately sanctioned. Most of the theoretical orientations in these stock stories fall into four broad categories: biosocial theories of deviance, ecological perspectives, culture-of-poverty explanations, and broken windows theory. All of these have a common theme—they place the source of deviance at the micro level. Therefore, the individual or their community, culture, or environment is at odds with societal norms. And by implication, if the individual or their community, culture, or environment could be reformed, fixed, adjusted, or rehabilitated, then deviance would be reduced or nonexistent.  

Using the matrix approach, we revealed the concealed stories of crime and deviance in the United States, stories that have always been complicated by race, ethnicity, gender, and class. Historically, crime and punishment have been associated with attempts to preserve the racial order. In this chapter, we will examine this and other narratives and observe how the matrix has influenced both our perceptions and the realities of crime and deviance.

The matrix indicates that certain socially defined people and groups (reflecting the interactions of race, class, and gender) situated in particular spaces and places are more likely to be labeled deviant than others. It also informs us that the nexus of various spaces interacts with social identities to produce different types and definitions of deviance. As we consider the various dimensions of the matrix lens, space and place help us to understand that crime and deviance are situationally and contextually specific. Therefore, urban areas produce different types of deviance than corporate spaces do. Hate crimes, which constitute a particular type of deviance, are utilized as a means of social control. Among the outcomes of the linking of national and corporate policies around crime and deviance have been the militarization of the police and the creation of the prison-industrial complex. These policies have called for increased surveillance, criminalization, and incarceration of the members of designated racial and ethnic groups. Ultimately, this process also accounts for the fact that Blacks, Hispanics, and the poor are more likely to receive the death penalty.

 Most police are doing their best in a difficult job. But if members of specific groups perceive that the laws and their enforcement are being used to marginalize, criminalize, and punish them essentially for being different, then police, courts, and laws will be held in disdain. And if these biased structures are prevalent across multiple institutional structures, then social control (the ability of a community to regulate its own behavior) will devolve into chaos, and crime will run rampant. The institutional framework in the matrix helps us understand that institutions function collaboratively to achieve specific societal goals. What this means is that until and unless race, racial ideologies, processes, and practices are viewed systemically, then we will continually see the racialized results of bigotry, discrimination, prejudice, and hate. Rather than focusing on the individual, we could focus on the risk. If, for example, we were to identify geographic areas where individuals are most at risk for being criminalized for low-level offenses, such as those associated with drug use, mental illness, and homelessness, we may be able to identify more cost-effective solutions outside of the criminal justice system. Services for drug treatment, psychological counseling, and shelter are not only cheaper but are more beneficial than incarceration. Then we could work to change the systems and structures that govern police, increase community control, and enhance individual responsibility.

Chapter 8: Power, Politics, and Identities

The political landscape in the United States has historically reflected the matrix of race.  The continual vibrancy of our political system and the increasing engagement of our intersectional constituencies are a testament to the efficacy of our democratic system, as well as to its consistent challenges.  Political identities reflecting the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, language, region, and class have historically been a means by which non-dominant groups have resisted and attempted to transform our political system.

The stock story suggests that democracy was originally developed to reduce class conflict and promote fairness and justice.  Unfortunately, this has not been the reality.  The matrix demonstrates that our nation was established and built on our racial and intersectional differences.  Race, class, and gender differences are enshrined in both our legislative and political processes since the inception of our nation.  Thus, genocide and forced assimilation were legislated for the Native Americans, slavery for the Africans, and immigration quotas for anyone but Northern and Western Europeans.

 The U.S. electorate comprises various identity groups that reflect the matrix of race, class, gender, and region. These identities do not share equally in political outcomes, as witnessed by the significant number of Black and Hispanic felons who have been disenfranchised in recent years. Gender cannot be ignored, as we see how it interacts with race, education, and class, which helps to explain some recent political outcomes. Black women, and women in general, are more likely to vote than their male counterparts but less likely to hold political office.

The Matrix approach demonstrates that resource scarcity often underlies political struggles, and political systems emerge to regulate conflicts over these resources. In the process, differences associated with race, class, gender, and geography often become politicized. Our application of the matrix allows us to see how these political processes have played out over time, producing both de jure and de facto outcomes with distinct impacts. In the South, certain de jure forms of political structures came into being. These legal, more obvious forms of racialized politics had negative and differential impacts on Blacks, Chinese, and Native Americans, and influenced how citizenship, freedom, and immigration were defined. In the North, less obvious de facto procedures were used in discriminatory federal housing policies that created White, middle-class suburbs and urban ghettos through redlining.

Coalitional politics are associated with the convergence of identity politics, as evidenced by massive political protests, resistance, and transformations during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This movement, driven by a coalition of Southern Blacks and Northern Whites and Blacks, effectively nullified the intimidation and segregation of the Old South. Such movements have not been exclusive to Blacks; among others, Filipino and Latinx farmworkers and Native Americans have utilized similar social activism to influence political discourse.  

Members of the millennial generation are less likely than their counterparts in earlier generations to vote based on party loyalty, but they may be more motivated by specific issues. Recent elections show that, compared with other age cohorts, millennials are most likely to be politically independent. Millennials may change the very course of this country as they become the largest generation and more economically viable and politically active. More diverse than any preceding generation and with a strong understanding of how to use social media effectively, millennials have huge potential to bring about political change. The question is not whether they will create change, but when and in what forms these changes will take.

Chapter 9: Sports and the American Dream

Youth starting as early as 6 years old are involved in sports. Racial, gendered, and economic disparities exist, with those in higher income, White, and males more likely to participate. The only group to see increases in the past decade was young girls. Recent NCAA settlements have primarily benefited male sports, thus perpetuating the gender inequalities found in colleges and universities.

Clear gender and racial hierarchies are reflected in what sports are played by whom, who is most rewarded (in terms of both income and endorsement deals), and who makes up the fan bases. Clearly, the gendered segregation of sports has implications for both viewers and endorsement deals, accounting for the small number of women among the athletes who earn the highest salaries (just 2 of the top 100 earners are women). Also, the fact that males dominate viewership, to some extent, explains their much higher pay and more lucrative endorsement contracts. Even after considering these, we are still left with the fact that only one professional sports league, Major League Soccer, is truly diverse; most national professional leagues have a high concentration of players in one or two racial groups.

The matrix, with its focus on intersectional differences, helps to explain how sport and athleticism create institutions that differentially impact racial, class, and gendered groups within U.S. society. The perspective anticipates that geographic and social locations, identities across time, and agency provide necessary insights into how this process operates. Institutional analysis demonstrates that sport and sporting events produce media and cultural products. Through these processes, interactions among race, class, and gender are manifested. Space and place concerns within the matrix approach highlight the importance of geographical and historical contexts that shape social identities in sport. Identities are constantly affected by sports as they legitimate, modify, and re-create racial hegemonies. Finally, both agency and resistance have been demonstrated by multiple individuals and groups who have used their status in sport to transform sport and the nation. An examination of U.S. sports over time reveals many hidden stories. Long before European colonization, Native Americans were active creators of sports and games. Most of these were directly associated with the needs of hunting-and-gathering communities. Consequently, stick games, racing, hunting, and archery were frequently vital parts of youth socialization.

Industrialization transformed the U.S. sports landscape as it drew an increasingly large number of immigrants and others into urban centers. One significant outcome of this transformation was the rise in participation in team sports. From the early 19th century onward, elite sports clubs catering to White ethnic groups were established throughout the Northeast. Baseball and other team sports soon followed.

 Transformative stories are possible as athletes push for change, both individually and collectively. But this change does not happen on its own; it must be concerted, deliberate, and continuous. In many cases, concerted efforts to discourage resistance must be overcome. In the process, we can transform our stock stories. Different types of protest, targeting different aspects of sports structures, can prompt us to reflect on, engage with, and critically evaluate the system that justifies dehumanizing others through stereotypes. Change can come about, but only if we act as agents willing to change the story.

 

Chapter 10: The Military, War, and Terrorism

The contemporary U.S. military accounts for 16% of the U.S. budget, representing a third of all global defense spending. Although it is predominantly male, White, and young, the U.S. military is one of the most diverse institutions in the nation. Race, gender, and age differences occur across all branches. Younger recruits tend to join the Marine Corps, while the Air Force attracts older recruits. Women are underrepresented in all branches, but they are most likely to enlist in the Air Force.

Close to a third of all enlisted personnel are members of racial minority groups. While racial minorities constitute 23.4% of those eligible to enlist, they make up 32.9% of enlisted ranks. Middle- and upper-class individuals are least likely to be found among enlisted personnel. Clear gender differences are evident across the various services. Women of color are more likely to serve in the Army or the Navy than in other branches of the military. Immigrants continue to join the military as a means of becoming naturalized citizens.

 Focusing on the most significant wars in our history provides a central set of events through which the matrix lens can be applied. The Revolutionary War highlights that the military of the United States has never been homogeneous, as Native Americans, Blacks, immigrants, women, and various class groups have always participated. Our national identity was initially forged in this war. Across our history, the U.S. military engaged in 29 major wars with Native American populations. These wars were responsible for the loss of thousands of lives as well as Native Americans’ loss of tribal lands. The Civil War highlights the importance of race, class, and gender. At least 250 women, often dressed as men, fought on both sides. Rape, a particular atrocity of war, targeted women, especially Black women. World War II highlighted the nation’s bifurcated stance regarding race. On the one hand, the United States was waging a war against fascism and racial imperialism, while on the other, it was upholding Jim Crow laws in both the South and the military. The Vietnam War, our most contentious war, revealed the ugly scars of racism as both Blacks and Hispanics were significantly overrepresented among U.S. casualties. Agitation over these deaths and questions about the morality of the war challenged our country and its leaders to reconsider how wars should be fought. Amid these controversies, an all-volunteer force was created. Wars against terrorism, involving both covert and overt military operations, security legislation, and new regulations, derive from the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. soil. The current war on terrorism has tended to target Muslims, principally from the

Middle East. Such concerns seem to be misplaced, as the average U.S. citizen is more than 253 times more likely to die from a homicide than from a terrorist attack carried out by a foreigner in the United States.

 Our military institutions, the most diverse institutions in the nation, hold the key to the effective and efficient use of all our human resources. Encouraging all citizens to serve in, participate with, and provide oversight of our military institutions can be the greatest deterrent to abuse, the greatest safeguard of peace, and the most effective weapon against terrorism. Wars are more likely to occur where lawlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness prevail. The most likely to suffer are those most vulnerable, regardless of whether they are in the United States or abroad. In such situations, it is difficult to determine who is right or wrong, good or evil. None of these terms makes any sense in the face of devastated lives, pain, and suffering. We should realize that during our own Revolutionary War, we were the extremists, the terrorists, and the discontents.