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This article discusses the history of participation of the three largest racial-ethnic groups in the military: whites, blacks, and Latinos. It empirically examines the likelihood of ever having served in the military across a variety of criteria including race-ethnicity, immigrant generation, and socioeconomic status, concluding that significant disparities exist only by socioeconomic status. Finally, the article offers an in-depth look at Latinos in the military, a group whose levels of participation in the armed services have not been thoroughly investigated heretofore. The findings reveal that, among Latinos, those who identify as "Other Hispanic" are more likely to have served in the military than Mexicans, while Puerto Ricans are not significantly different from Mexicans in their service. An important finding of this study is that a large percentage of Latinos who have served in the armed forces are children of immigrants. Thus, even among Latinos, immigrants are not significantly less likely to have served in the military than those with two U.S.-born parents.
To what extent are the poor and minorities disproportionately selected into the military? Relatively little research has examined this question empirically, although the Department of Defense keeps annual records on the race and gender of military personnel. Fligstein (1980) found that from 1940 to 1973 blacks were less likely to join the military than whites. Kane (2006), on the other hand, concluded that blacks are overrepresented in the military. In terms of social class, Kane (2006) found that people who serve in the military come from more well-off neighborhoods than those who have not joined the military although the economic elite are underrepresented in armed service. Little is known about Latino participation in the armed services.2 Farnsworth Riche and Quester (2004) note that Latinos are somewhat underrepresented. To what extent do Latinos vary in their participation by ethnicity? Finally, to what extent do children of immigrants participate in the military? This article seeks to answer these questions.
Discussing the history of participation of the three largest racial-ethnic groups in the military (whites, blacks, and Latinos), this article examines empirically the likelihood of ever having served in the military across a variety of criteria, including race-ethnicity, immigrant generation, and socioeconomic status. It concludes that significant disparities exist only by socioeconomic status. Finally, the...