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Op Ed: Kansas City Star, Equality Still is AWOL from the Ranks of U.S. Military
By MARY SANCHEZ
The Kansas City Star
July 26, 2009
The excuses of 1948 that stood in the way of desegregating the military ring hollow, even laughable today.
Why they linger, this time applied to gays, is political cowardice.
Politicians and military men once argued with great certainty that integration would wreak havoc on the armed forces. Blacks and whites couldn't possibly share barracks or bunkers.
Esteemed commanders stressed that the Army was no place to stretch racial norms. Congressional testimony from the '40s is rife with twisted pontifications on military history and racist views about the moral and combat quality of black troops.
Eventually, President Harry S. Truman prevailed with his executive order to desegregate. He had concluded that the U.S. military must be a showcase of equality. The order was not followed flawlessly, but the feared outcomes did not materialize.
In fact, a military career became one of the great stepping stones for African-Americans.
A forum today at the Truman Museum in Independence will discuss that history and the disturbing similarity of attitudes that keep "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in place as a policy against gays openly serving. The event is sponsored by the D.C.-based Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
One has to wonder: Would Truman recognize the recycled excuses of his era?
The same catchphrases are present, concerns that straights would flee the military, that "unit cohesion" would be undermined and morale would plummet.
To those who argue that race is a benign characteristic and sexual orientation is a choice, a behavior, I pose this question: When did you first know you were straight? Most people can only shrug and conclude that their heterosexual makeup was a biological fact of birth. They didn't choose it, any more than they did other packaging of hair and eye color.
It shouldn't be so difficult to accept that some people are born gay.
The silliness of it all is punctuated by the fact that gays and lesbians - an estimated 65,000 - are quietly serving in the ranks today. Some who have been dismissed had excellent records on the battlefield.
Nearly 13,000 people have been released since "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was put in place in 1993. That includes 800 people deemed "mission-critical." Some were linguists, with expertise in Farsi and Arabic, and were valuable against terrorism.
Yet many of the same advocates who say no cost is too great for our national security or military strength are the same ones undermining it with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
President Barack Obama ought to summon the wisdom of Truman. Despite election promises to end the policy, Obama's action toward the policy's demise is weak.
The excuses of 2009 are as indefensible as they were in 1948. The nation should know better by now.
To reach Mary Sanchez, call 816-234-4752 or send e-mail to msanchez@kcstar.com.
