| Questioning JROTC
Why Question the Military's JROTC Program?
JROTC Doesn't Deliver: Alternatives Do!
JROTC Wastes Scarce School Funds
JROTC Forces Loss of Local Control
JROTC Textbooks are Biased
JROTC is a Recruiting Program for Dead-End Military Jobs
Teach Peace Not War
Military Out of Our Schools
Before You Enlist, Find Out the Facts
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JROTC Discriminates
Against Gay Instructors
In keeping with the Department of Defense (DoD) ban on gays in the military, JROTC programs discriminate against lesbian, gay and bisexual instructors. All JROTC instructors are retired military personnel who've been screened by the National JROTC Certification Board. Major Shepard, the Public Affairs Director of the ROTC Cadet Command, acknowledged in an interview in 1992, "my view is that if someone was discharged for that reason, I doubt that they would be considered eligible or suitable for certification under the current military regulations." In other words, if you were "out" when you were in, you've been kicked out; if you came "out" since you got out, they will screen you out.
Against Gay Students
It is unclear how JROTC instructors will treat gay students, but if response to the new gay ban within the military is any indication, count on homophobic, inconsistent application.
In San Francisco, the school board has been assured that there will be no discrimination, but there is no way to know if that promise is made good. In a report to Superintendent Rojas (Sept. 27, 1993), Mark Barmore, Deputy City Attorney, wrote "There is no legal protection for gays and lesbians in the JROTC; only a non-binding commitment from the local JROTC officer."
The SF School Board kicked the Boy Scouts out of the schools because of their homophobia. The military is far worse.
Against People with Disabilities and Immigrants
"All high school students who are US citizens, at least 14 years old, and who are physically fit are eligible to join the JROTC." - JROTC Fact Sheet, DoD Public Affairs Office
JROTC also discriminates against students and instructors with disabilities through "physical fitness" requirements. Under the national JROTC regulations, even disabled vets can't be instructors. Perhaps the military is exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but public schools certainly are not. Another section of the national regulations bar immigrants without legal papers from officially enrolling in JROTC programs. All of this violates federal, state and district non-discrimination laws. In some schools, disabled and immigrant students are allowed to tag along in JROTC classes as long as they are treated as "special" students and are not counted toward enrollment quotas.
These are not arguments for a more inclusive military, they're arguments about integral ways the military contradicts basic human and civil rights. |