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the role of "acceptable racism" Coming from experience, there is no alternative to "accepting" racism (or sexism) in the military. If a superior officer or en
by dsp1234 10y ago
the role of "acceptable racism"
Coming from experience, there is no alternative to "accepting" racism (or sexism) in the military. If a superior officer or enlisted personnel makes a racist/sexist joke directly at me, I had no option but to take it. Then the others in the platoon see that's perfectly acceptable, and they do it to. Any criticism of this "acceptable" behavior is brutally handled as being as a morale killer (notwithstanding my own morale), and can be responded with everything from minor shunning (no help up a difficult sand hill), through medium consequences (being left alone on post, then blamed by the others for abandoning post, leading to disciplinary action), all the way through courts martial for trumped up charges (because it's your word vs the superior officer's).
implicit understanding that "if shit happens, I've got your back"
Note that this is generally explicit. Unfortunately, it can be more like, "If we're in the field, and shit happens, I got your back, because otherwise we both die, but when we're back at base, you're on your own".
Make no mistake, that "undertone of understanding and respect" comes at a cost, just as many other social circles, it is concreted by pushing out "the other".
- chrisseaton 10y ago> If a superior officer or enlisted personnel makes a racist/sexist joke directly at me, I had no option but to take it You could report it to their commander. If they don't listen, then report it to their commander, and so on. You could also report it to your named equality officer (that's a UK thing, probably US as well if that's where you're from), or the padre. Formations also have their own equality officers and padres, so you can go out of the unit if you need to.
- bilbo0s 10y agoIn the US we, generally, make Chaplains available. They are a good option for this sort of thing. Though I would have to agree with dsp1234's overall assessment of the situation with respect to racism and sexism in the military. It is what it is. But there is someone you can speak with about it.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago> You could report it to their commander. If they don't listen, then report it to their commander, and so on. Sounds like a great way to get retaliated against.