The United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM, U.S. AFRICOM, and AFRICOM)[4] is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, headquartered at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany.
Uhh, were you suggesting they should have black people serve in that because… Africa?
Given that the role is as much diplomatic as it is operational, and given that 20% of the US military is African American, is a bit crazy that they could only find white people to fill the roles.
That’s not how the military works. They dont “find” people, they send whoever is in that theatre. And considering DEI is now commie or whatever, yeah. This tracks with their behavior
Historically, the military has been explicitly segregated. Even more recently, war colleges have favored whiter recruits (often children of other officers) while PoC have been confined to the enlisted ranks.
The current “anti-DEI” Hegseth Pentagon has been a return to a very explicit form of white nationalism at every level of the bureaucracy
This is lowkey kinda racist, implying Black Americans need to be sent because their darker skin makes them more suited to negotiate with Africans.
Additionally your statistics are coincidental. Even if 20% of the armed forces is black, what percentage are ranked to these positions? Also there’s only 5 dudes. 20% would be 1/5, so missing 1 is within margin of statistical error.
A different and likely more damning bit of racism perhaps.
The argument is that if you have 99 white guys and 1 black guy in your pool of people, then the choice to specifically send that single black guy to Africa is a bit messed up. You probably should have more black guys in the people pool, and that surely points to some racial bias in the hiring process, but the decision on how to deploy those people is a different decision that can be racist or not all on its own.
The argument is that if you have 99 white guys and 1 black guy in your pool of people
Okay. But why is it so difficult to get non-white guys in your officer’s corps to begin with?
the choice to specifically send that single black guy to Africa is a bit messed up
Given the history of African states under European colonial occupation, I might argue that sending any of the white guys (particularly white guys with a certain expressed stigma against domestic nonwhites) is a foolish move.
the decision on how to deploy those people is a different decision that can be racist or not all on its own
The heavily predicated on the attitude American leadership has towards the African state they’re deploying troops. If they consider military in the country part of a mutual defense partnership, it makes sense to send people who are relatable and who integrate well with the political establishment. If they consider military in the country an occupation - or military leadership a diplomatic corps for dealing with wealthy white business owners - then the leadership will reflect American priorities rather than Host Nation priorities.
Sending a guy who looks and talks like Elon Musk to server as senior commander in Botswana sends a very particular message, especially when it is coming under a Presidency that keeps insisting South Africa is doing reverse-genocide against Afrikaners.
Okay, sure. You do understand that the vast majority of African Americans have been rooted families for generations now? I can’t underline enough how fucked up it would be to send someone to Africa because they have dark skin. That is a verbatim echo of all sorts of internal American racism.
You do understand that the vast majority of African Americans have been rooted families for generations now?
They are overrepresented in the military as enlisted soldiers and underrepresented in the officer’s corps. What would “being rooted for generations” have to do with their ability to advance in military command?
They might’ve not been filling them based on skin colour… Putting black Americans in the position because the military thing is about Africa sounds skeezy
Totally apropos of nothing, this is the senior leadership at Africom right now.
…
An arm of the US military is run by US Military staff.
I’m shocked. Shocked! If it was ran by LITERAL African Americans, it would make a huge amount of difference, because as we all know, enlisted military staff are extremely well versed in the current culture, norms and goals of modern countries that are in the same continent as their ancestors whose culture and background were erased as they were bought over to the US during the slave trade.
What percent of the US military is African American?
given that 20% of the US military is African American
What percent of the senior officer corps is African American?
IDK, you seem to know, why don’t you inform us?
Why do you think that is?
Racism.
The problem is a lack of having black people ascend to this type of rank. I don’t expect any of the US military to match the culture of the people they are running their bases out of. Donnell Rawlings worked as military police in korea, last time I checked he’s not Korean, he’s black. You think he’d adapt way better if he was working out of Mogadishu?
Totally apropos of nothing, this is the senior leadership at Africom right now.
Leopold’s colonial rule of the Congo Free State resulted in the death of up to 10 million. Belgian colonial rule didn’t change that much. Shortly after Congolese independence, the CIA helped assassinate their newly elected leader Lumumba.
They replaced him with Mobutu. This allowed the worst colonial abuses to continue. Crucially so did the extraction of minerals. Copper, cobalt, uranium, … very important for America’s interests and economy. Unfortunately this meddling would ultimately result in the first and second Congo war and another 5 million dead. Oops.
Given Africom effectively allows the US to engage in force projection and colonialism in Africa, isn’t it fitting that it’s all white men running the show from Europe?
Some fun facts because I’m bored:
A few years back Tesla signed a large cobalt contract with Umicore. Umicore is in part a successor to Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, a mining company that is in part responsible for that 10 million death toll.
It is estimated that child labour still accounts for 30% of cobalt mining in the Congo. Some as young as 7. Tesla goes zoom.
AFAIK the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently not on Trump’s travel ban list, likely because the US is negotiating a new minerals deal. It could also be because Trump or the Whitehouse confused the DRC with the much smaller Republic of Congo. It could also be because Trump is on record as saying he doesn’t know what the Congo is, let alone where it is.
The DRC has a population of over 100 million, and suffers from the so called resource curse. They produce 70% of the world’s cobalt, have 70% of the world’s coltan, and 30% of the world’s diamonds.
Given Africom effectively allows the US to engage in force projection and colonialism in Africa, isn’t it fitting that it’s all white men running the show from Europe?
I would say it is symptomatic of the attitude that the US military leadership has towards its peers in Africa, certainly.
Nope, teenagers with century old rifles made for czarist and kaiserreich armies or hunting buffalo to genocide the plains tribes, and maybe shoes if they’re lucky, will slaughter these bitches.
Dunno where they’ll be from, dunno if it will be in 26 27 or 28, but I’m pretty sure that’s how its gonna go.
Totally apropos of nothing, this is the senior leadership at Africom right now.
Idk if SciFi is necessarily going to save us
Uhh, were you suggesting they should have black people serve in that because… Africa?
Given that the role is as much diplomatic as it is operational, and given that 20% of the US military is African American, is a bit crazy that they could only find white people to fill the roles.
That’s not how the military works. They dont “find” people, they send whoever is in that theatre. And considering DEI is now commie or whatever, yeah. This tracks with their behavior
Historically, the military has been explicitly segregated. Even more recently, war colleges have favored whiter recruits (often children of other officers) while PoC have been confined to the enlisted ranks.
The current “anti-DEI” Hegseth Pentagon has been a return to a very explicit form of white nationalism at every level of the bureaucracy
This is lowkey kinda racist, implying Black Americans need to be sent because their darker skin makes them more suited to negotiate with Africans.
Additionally your statistics are coincidental. Even if 20% of the armed forces is black, what percentage are ranked to these positions? Also there’s only 5 dudes. 20% would be 1/5, so missing 1 is within margin of statistical error.
But the whites only officer corps is what, exactly?
A different and likely more damning bit of racism perhaps.
The argument is that if you have 99 white guys and 1 black guy in your pool of people, then the choice to specifically send that single black guy to Africa is a bit messed up. You probably should have more black guys in the people pool, and that surely points to some racial bias in the hiring process, but the decision on how to deploy those people is a different decision that can be racist or not all on its own.
Okay. But why is it so difficult to get non-white guys in your officer’s corps to begin with?
Given the history of African states under European colonial occupation, I might argue that sending any of the white guys (particularly white guys with a certain expressed stigma against domestic nonwhites) is a foolish move.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. You can ask any of the leaders of the seven different African governments that have seen officers’ coups overthrow the sitting Western-backed governments and replacing them with African nationalist military leadership.
The heavily predicated on the attitude American leadership has towards the African state they’re deploying troops. If they consider military in the country part of a mutual defense partnership, it makes sense to send people who are relatable and who integrate well with the political establishment. If they consider military in the country an occupation - or military leadership a diplomatic corps for dealing with wealthy white business owners - then the leadership will reflect American priorities rather than Host Nation priorities.
Sending a guy who looks and talks like Elon Musk to server as senior commander in Botswana sends a very particular message, especially when it is coming under a Presidency that keeps insisting South Africa is doing reverse-genocide against Afrikaners.
Okay, sure. You do understand that the vast majority of African Americans have been rooted families for generations now? I can’t underline enough how fucked up it would be to send someone to Africa because they have dark skin. That is a verbatim echo of all sorts of internal American racism.
I’m addressing that very specific point.
They are overrepresented in the military as enlisted soldiers and underrepresented in the officer’s corps. What would “being rooted for generations” have to do with their ability to advance in military command?
I don’t think anyone here was advocating for that though?
Genuinely asking - do you think the people of Africa would be more welcoming of American military forces if the AFRICOM commanders had darker skin?
They might’ve not been filling them based on skin colour… Putting black Americans in the position because the military thing is about Africa sounds skeezy
They fired all the wokes and affirmative actions. Obviously only mediocre white failsons are qualified to do things.
…
An arm of the US military is run by US Military staff.
I’m shocked. Shocked! If it was ran by LITERAL African Americans, it would make a huge amount of difference, because as we all know, enlisted military staff are extremely well versed in the current culture, norms and goals of modern countries that are in the same continent as their ancestors whose culture and background were erased as they were bought over to the US during the slave trade.
What percent of the US military is African American?
What percent of the senior officer corps is African American?
Why do you think that is?
IDK, you seem to know, why don’t you inform us?
Racism.
The problem is a lack of having black people ascend to this type of rank. I don’t expect any of the US military to match the culture of the people they are running their bases out of. Donnell Rawlings worked as military police in korea, last time I checked he’s not Korean, he’s black. You think he’d adapt way better if he was working out of Mogadishu?
That’s because we opted for cyberpunk as our subgenre.
Leopold’s colonial rule of the Congo Free State resulted in the death of up to 10 million. Belgian colonial rule didn’t change that much. Shortly after Congolese independence, the CIA helped assassinate their newly elected leader Lumumba.
They replaced him with Mobutu. This allowed the worst colonial abuses to continue. Crucially so did the extraction of minerals. Copper, cobalt, uranium, … very important for America’s interests and economy. Unfortunately this meddling would ultimately result in the first and second Congo war and another 5 million dead. Oops.
Given Africom effectively allows the US to engage in force projection and colonialism in Africa, isn’t it fitting that it’s all white men running the show from Europe?
Some fun facts because I’m bored:
A few years back Tesla signed a large cobalt contract with Umicore. Umicore is in part a successor to Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, a mining company that is in part responsible for that 10 million death toll.
It is estimated that child labour still accounts for 30% of cobalt mining in the Congo. Some as young as 7. Tesla goes zoom.
AFAIK the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently not on Trump’s travel ban list, likely because the US is negotiating a new minerals deal. It could also be because Trump or the Whitehouse confused the DRC with the much smaller Republic of Congo. It could also be because Trump is on record as saying he doesn’t know what the Congo is, let alone where it is.
The DRC has a population of over 100 million, and suffers from the so called resource curse. They produce 70% of the world’s cobalt, have 70% of the world’s coltan, and 30% of the world’s diamonds.
I would say it is symptomatic of the attitude that the US military leadership has towards its peers in Africa, certainly.
Nope, teenagers with century old rifles made for czarist and kaiserreich armies or hunting buffalo to genocide the plains tribes, and maybe shoes if they’re lucky, will slaughter these bitches.
Dunno where they’ll be from, dunno if it will be in 26 27 or 28, but I’m pretty sure that’s how its gonna go.