Another Reason to Be Proud
I saw my Air Force brat friend, Vic Kelly, at the gym today. We’d both been watching the Inauguration on TV-- he from his desk, I from my favorite elliptical machine, filling our eyes and hearts with the enormity of this event.
“This is a huge step forward for our country,” Vic said.
I nodded, choking up. It is hard to overstate the importance of the milestone our country reached today. This is the most powerful symbolic moment I have seen in my lifetime, for our country and for the world. Our nation collectively turned the page on centuries of bigotry to embrace its first black president.
A great step forward? Oh lord yes. This is an event so earthshaking, the country is remaking itself around it. It is so expansive, we can only hope and pray that we can collectively grow into the vast moral space it has defined and that it calls upon us to occupy.
What a triumph. What a challenge. What a privilege to be alive and American, right now, right here.
Then I told Vic what I’d been thinking as I climbed my elliptical hills and watched the event unfold.
The extraordinary transformation of societal attitudes that culminated in the inauguration today of President Barack Obama began in our sector of American society: the United States military.
Our schools were integrated long before the civilian world could get its head around the idea.
Our forces were integrated when countless work places, colleges, clubs, sports teams, and public events were not.
Our sector at its best is a color-blind meritocracy—and even with its flaws and occasional slips, it continues to be a shining example of racial fairness compared to civilian society, and an extraordinary success story.
It's true the American military had its own long struggle to overcome inherent racism, and and there have been low points and setbacks on the way—but to its credit, it always came back determined to work harder to achieve racial equality. For decades now it has been illegal under the UCMJ for a member of the armed forces to make a racist remark, or to fail to intervene when someone else makes one. That's not something that can be replicated in the civilian world, obviously, but it is appropriate in the authoritarian world of the military; racism is rightly seen in the armed forces as a noxious influence that undermines the mission, and as such it is not tolerated.
It could be said that America’s first efforts to overcome racism were in effect tested first in the military context: working together, learning together, living together. All of this has been powerfully influential on the civilian sector, because it provided real living examples of how integration can work, and created a track record that could not be denied.
I would argue, too, that it was thanks to the military that the American public first began to visualize the possibility of a black president—because of Gen. Colin Powell, who became the first African-American to command the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and who was himself considered a potential presidential candidate before he became Secretary of State.
President Barack Hussein Obama, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces:
We salute you today. All Americans take pride in what you—and all of us collectively—have achieved. And those of us from the military can take special pride in the fact that our lived experience helped pave the road which led you to the White House.
I was too choked up to say more than a couple of sentences of all this to Vic, but he understood immediately. Any true military brat would. And probably because by then I had tears streaming down my face, and his own eyes were tearing up, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a tiny cloth bag, and handed it to me. I could feel there was something inside it.
“What’s this?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Keep it with you,” was all he said. I pulled the bag open. Inside was a small round stone, with the word HUG on it.
Will I keep it with me? You bet:
It's the perfect reminder of how connecting with other brats is good for the heart.
And it's also the perfect reminder of an extraordinary day in which we were all hugged by history.
Excellent! Very well written. This is an idea that I find difficult to explain to civillians. Growing up on military bases and the extensive experiences as a military brat provide a unique experience with so many different components. This component of race has always stuck with me.
When my dad retired after 20 years and we moved to the south, I found it nearly unbearable. I love the south but as we all know, race relations are still very strained and as a child to get thrust into something like that is tough.
Through the years I have gravitated toward other military brats or military people and they all get this idea. The unity, the equality, the fact that we all lived in the same kind of house and our parents did the same type of job; that everyone had the same opportunities in advancement; our churches (base chapels) are fully integrated as well as the schools.
I am ahead of the curve as a child who started school in 1970 with black kids, asian kids, hispanic kids and well.. I couldn't possibly name them all because so many were mixed and there were kids from all over.
As far as Obama is concerned, he is more like me because he grew up moving around, feeling like the odd man out as a teen and young adult, having more world experiences that others just didn't get. He is also close to my age. It is historical indeed for us all and for me personally to have a president who feels like a real person with real experiences.
Reply to this
Thanks Mary - I loved your article, your book, thanks for acknowledging in public what the rest of us who grew up this way know. All the best to you. Kathryn
Reply to this
Thanks, Mary. You said it all and so much more--the good principles that are illustrated in and by our military, the impacts of the fairness and equality we learned as "brats."
Reply to this
So happy to see an entry from you.
I am in total agreement. Being a military brat meant you were around all kinds of people and treated all with respect.
Reply to this
Please consider linking my web site, www.lorabeldon.com , to your web site. My latest series, Everywhere and Nowhere, is about growing up in the military.
I admire and watch all that you are doing for this community. If my work could be of any use to you, please let me know.
Lora Beldon
H-804-222-0618
Reply to this
I definitely need to pick up your book, Mary. I am in the process of talking to recruiters for the Air Force and the Navy to determine which branch will work best for my family. I will be serving in their respective Medical Service Corps as a Health Services Administrator. I have two children. Christian is 5 and Alexander is 5 months. My husband served in Clinton's Air Force. In reading the blog above, my heart tells me to serve in President Obama's military, for all the reasons you mention, however, at what expense? No answers have come to me yet, but I continue to search my soul. Thanks for providing this venue.
Reply to this
Someone pointed out this website to me. I hope the vast "others" don't think there is something wrong with them/us -- we're unique of course and there may be some challenges. We have an overview and perspective though that others don't, one that is large and I think potentially helpful. A big yes to an already integrated way of living. Is that weird or good? I don't feel weird as a brat, I wish there was more about us out there.
Reply to this
Your thoughts on the election certainly do not reflect the vast majority of brats worldwide.
Obama was elected in much the same way as Jimmy Carter was after Ford/Nixon.
I will give you that race was first addressed by the US Military but that has nothing to do with this election.
Newsflash Obama is half white. To me and most brats his race is a non-factor.
"What a triumph, What a challenge" Give me a break.
Maybe I missed something in your writing feel free to correct me but I just don't see Obama being elected having any relation to race relations in the military. Brats, exmilitary etc. are certainly more tolerant of other cultures it goes with the territory but how does that have anything to do with the last election?
Self promotion I can certainly recognize and for that I take my hat off to you. Wish I had thought of writing a book as a 20 year brat and a retired Army Officer it might have been interesting.
What I would like to know is where and when were you overseas and what alumni group are you a part of?
Reply to this
The notion that Barack Obama's election to the highest office in the land was somehow related to the dynamics of military life is very idealistic and makes for good prose in light of the fact that the president is also Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. However, the realities of life confine that notion to exactly where it now lies; on the pages of idealistic prose. His election to the office of the presidency was first and foremost a backlash not only against George Bush and company but against the stale policies of the Republican party. The disenfranchised minorities of blacks, gays, hispanics and liberal white voters were all given a "champion" for their cause at one moment in time. It was a moment whose time had come and running him was a stroke of genius.
My life as an army brat began in 1956 when my mother married an American soldier who brought us to this country. Not only did I get to experience life as "the new kid on the block", I had the added "treat" of being a foreigner, a first generation immigrant so to speak. Not only did I witness racism inside and outside the military,I experienced prejudice first hand as the son of a military man living off post and as a foreigner growing up in the 50"s in the rural south and rural midwest. My book won't be quite as idealistic!
Reply to this
Mary,
We really need to thank Harry Truman for the change in the military. After a series of events just after World War II, in January 1948, by Executive Order, he eliminated discrimination in the US military. He had already appointed a commission on Civil Rights. He acted on his own when the Congress hesitated. That act did not do it finally. It took a lot of persuasion and action even after that historic decree.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/desegregation/large/index.php?action=chronology
Reply to this
Hi everyone! My family is trying to raise money for the Wounded Veterans of America as well as show support to service men and women who are overseas this holiday. To do this, we are selling Commemorative Military Dog Tag Tree ornaments! These are replicas of official military issued dog tags, each of which is adorned with this inscribed message, "Remembering Our Troops This Holiday. 2009" They make the perfect addition to any holiday tree, as well as great stocking stuffers! Send them to your own service men and women who a currently overseas. Each ornament is just $3.00 (+S&H) and you have a choice of what color silencer to go with your dog tag ornament! We have Red, Blue, or Purple. For ordering info and to see pictures of the ornaments, email us at:oksean16@yahoo.com *THIS IS NOT A SPAM MESSAGE! I AM A VERY REAL PERSON WHO HAS A BROTHER IN Afghanistan AND WANTS TO SHOW SUPPORT!* Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Reply to this
Mary,
I just found your website, although I have had your book for years. I even bought it for my brothers and sister! Is this blog still working, there are no new comments since last year. Hoping to hear from you, Judy
Reply to this