Elizabeth Tran <Instructors Name> <Course Name> June 25, 2011 Racial Tolerance in the Army When working

in a team, it is important to acknowledge the value of diversity in others, whether it is their ethnic background, religion, or their job. In the U.S. army, racial tolerance is one of the most importantly upheld standards. After World War II, former president Harry Truman ended the relentless racial segregation in the army by establishing order 9981. Order 9981 declared for the equality of all humans serving in the army whether it is their race, religion, or national origin. Having racial diversity in the army displays that the United States is, in fact, accepting to all people. As people serving in the U.S. Army, it is our obligation to show racial tolerance in order to be a reflection of how citizens of America should be treating everybody else. Racial tolerance is the ability to be able to respect and treat people of other races in a reverential manner. It shouldnt have to matter to a person whether someone is African American, Asian, or Indian; they are all people that should be treated in a humane manner. Displaying racial tolerance has many benefits as well. By showing racial tolerance to others, you will gain a new sense of self pride. This may help with your self confidence in talking with others and you can feel better about yourself. Your self-concept, your view of yourself and your role in life, will become much more dignifying. Another benefit in showing racial tolerance towards others is that you will meet many new people throughout the road of life and hopefully become long term friends with them. It is important to have a wide range of friends to have your back whenever you are in state of emergency or just need a shoulder to cry on. Lastly, it is

important to show racial tolerance because of your obligation as a human being and the standards of classical human utilitarianism. Having racial tolerance is an important quality that adds to a healthy self-concept in life. By being open to a diversity of races you can accomplish a lot. First of all, you will feel much better about yourself as a person. You may also gain other qualities such as great speaking skills. Having good speaking skills will lead to you being more social, giving you a more evident spot in whichever working environment you are in. In the army, this is especially important because you are working with people that you face life and death situations with. Being racially tolerant will allow you to get along with them in a socially healthy way. This will lead to you having an easier time in the army whether it is in your work time or it is in your self-leisure. Racial integration in the army is one of the greatest reasons our army is so successful. However, as conscious thinking human beings, we must realize that racial tension is always going to be around no matter how many people fight against it. A sociologist of the United States Military named Charles Moskos once noted, Race has always been the central domestic question for Americans. At times, when it comes to this issue, we seem to be evolving in ways both remarkable and promising. But, even then, there are potent reminders of all that is ugly and intractable about our history of racial divisions. Reflecting this schizophrenia, public discourse about race brings out the best and the worst in Americans. Perhaps most disappointing is how routinely descriptions of the state of relations between blacks and whites and discussions about how to improve them lack openness, clarity, and substance. The poverty of our conversation is not the result of insufficient research and scholarship. Nor is it a product of the frequently stunted political and programmatic debate among serious citizens and public figures. Ultimately, the nation simply seems at a collective loss for words to explain why, despite our nearly

obsessive focus on racial tensions, we continue to have more problems that relate to this than to any other aspect of our society. Although it is quite evident that the United States Military does its best to extinguish any kind of racial discrimination, it still exists. Many people question and even try to blame the military for this; however, this is not the fault of the military. People must wake up and realize that racial discrimination will always be around no matter how many people fight against it. Everybody in this world is at least a little racist, whether or not you admit it; however this doesnt make you a bad person. To prove this point, take a minute and think. If someone tells you about a person eating KFC, what race do you assume that person is? How about if that person is eating rice? What race do you associate with them? Now if this person is eating tacos and burritos, what race do you assume they are? If we say this person is a terrorist, what race do you assume they are? It is okay to have these assumptions in your head; however, it is the way that you choose to present and express your attitude to others that sculpts you into a person; whether it is a positive model or a negative one. This does not, however, rule out the fact that you should always try your best to be a good influence unto others by displaying racial tolerance. Most of the time, when racial discrimination is evident within a team it is the fault of the leader. The leader most likely either portrays racial discrimination themselves, or they simply allow their comrades to display racial discrimination. Leaders may not realize that their team is heavily influenced by them and will begin to inherit their leaders habits; hopefully not for the worse. Whether it is racial discrimination or just pure stupidity, a leaders traits will reflect in his team. This means that our military leaders must set good examples through their characters and actions so that their team may grow to have good characters, and in turn, continue to set good examples for others. In relevance to racial tolerance, a leader must continue to show racial tolerance themselves, whether

or not they admit they are racist. This way, their team will have an example to follow and hopefully start to show racial tolerance (although racial tolerance should already be practiced by any person through common sense). Another good reason for having racial tolerance in the army is that you will get along with others easier. Being in the army can become very stressful, and it is easier to cope with our situations when we have good friends to depend on. Being racially tolerant gives you a wider range for making friends that you may keep in long-term contact with. Being racially tolerant also helps you to avoid a lot of unnecessary drama that may come your way. When you are facing life and death situations in your daily jobs, the last thing you need is drama with other people because you dont have racial tolerance. Sometimes in the army you may also face extreme depression or lose of interest. Having this wide range of friends (due to your ability to tolerate races) will help you get through any trouble you may face. When you are sad they will give you a shoulder to cry on so that you dont lose yourself in your misery. They may also be a key motivator in times that you feel a loss of interest in serving in the United States Army. Mark Twain once said, A friend is someone who stays in when the rest of the world has gone out. Sometimes being in the military makes you feel this way. You may lose the support of many peers; however, if you have friends in the military with you that understand your situation, it will be easier on you. You will be able to cope instead of dealing with emotional problems on your own. This will lift a big burden off of your shoulders and help you focus on the task at hand. This is especially important when you are in the army. As a human being, you should find it natural in yourself to try your best to be kind to others and bring happiness into other peoples lives. This is all summarized within the theory of classical human utilitarianism. This is relevant to racial tolerance because, as humans we should

try to keep others happy by acknowledging, accepting, and not discriminating their race. A healthy person is able to put race aside and see the person past their ethnic background. Instead of discriminating someone because of their race, we should show them kindness and racial tolerance. This will build you into a more mentally healthy person and make you more acceptable to other people. When working in the army you must be acceptable unto others so that you and your comrades may work as a team. When people have unsolved problems with each other, the team work starts to fall apart. When these problems are due to a lack of racial tolerance, tensions may rise even higher. These tensions can lead to dangerous outbursts of hate and may lead to violence. Racial tolerance is very important in this aspect to avoid as many problems as possible. The less problems that there are, the more smoothly a team can work. One of the reasons that our army is so successful is because of our great racial integration. With our integration of all different kinds of races, we are able to have a wide range of different people with different skills. With our racial integration, more and more soldiers are beginning to gain a better sense of racial tolerance, allowing everyone to work together in a practical manner. Racial tolerance in the army is also important to shine light upon because of our stamp on the planet. The United States is often modeled after and criticized by countless other countries because of our government, militia, and economical issues. By showing racial tolerance we are telling the world that we are accepting to all people. This is especially important in our foreign affairs. The way we compose ourselves is a model for citizens of America. Many Americans model after what should be the good example of soldiers in the military. Since we, being in the military, are so often criticized and modeled after, we should do our best to live up to expectations and be a positive influence unto others. Showing racial tolerance may help lessen the level of racial discrimination that still exists in our country. Showing racial tolerance also

proves to others that soldiers are disciplined human beings and not just weapons of the Unites States. Racial tolerance in the army may set examples for our future generations to follow as well. Amongst teens, racial tolerance must be taught in order for our future generations to be accepting to all people. This is relevant to the army showing racial tolerance because many of these young adults model on our behavior. If we show racial tolerance, they may respect our actions and continue to repeat the same. According to an anonymous contributor, there are five steps that we can take to help kids start to associate with racial tolerance. They are: Discuss with your teenager about what he [or she] knows or doesnt know about people of other racial backgrounds. Sense if [they have] stereotypes that are not true. Its important to understand why and how the teen feels about racial differences in order to teach racial tolerance. Educate your teenager about other racial backgrounds, especially the ones that [theyve] learned to associate with stereotypes. If your teenager learns more about the ancestry of various racial types, [they] can feel connected to others in a meaningful way. For instance, if your teenager is having a difficult time accepting Jewish people, educate him or her about World War II and what they had to overcome. Encourage your teenager to invite someone over that is of another racial background. The best way to teach your teenager about racial tolerance is have [them] get to know someone better that is different. Your teen may end having more in common with the other person than he originally thought. Bring your teenager to plays or rent movies about racial injustice. Invite your teen to read stories about other teenagers who have stories to tell regarding racial discrimination. Learning more and more about other cultures can hopefully open your teenagers heart and mind. Talk to your teenager often about [their] thoughts concerning racial tolerance. Let your teen express [their] feelings and if [theyve] become more aware of society

and how different cultures are treated in various countries. Hold conversations with your teenager to [them] about racial intolerance and voice your opinions as well. In following these guidelines, we can instill the ideology of racial tolerance in teenagers, our future generation of Americans. The more accepting teenagers become of other races, the better off they will be as they grow into adults in the working class. This will be especially beneficial to those who plan to go into the military themselves one day. As teens begin to catch on to racial tolerance, they may model for other people who will soon being to display racial tolerance. This is just another example of how showing racial tolerance in the army may affect other people as they see us as an example to follow. We must remain good influences for other people to follow. By not showing racial tolerance we are setting a bad example, and not only making ourselves look bad, but also the army as a whole. We must not allow for our names to be smeared and so we must continue to show good attitudes along with racial tolerance. Although showing racial tolerance is very important in the army, many people tend to over react about every little thing. This causes unnecessary drama, hate among each other, and can cause the army to waste money. Many people are very easily offended, and these people need to grow up and get over themselves. Playing the race card is not a way for a person to gain respect; in fact, it shows how much of a coward and a disgusting person they are. Here is a situation in which people may place the infamous race card. There is a man of German descent and a man of African American descent. Suppose the German mans name is Jeff and the African American mans name is Tom. If Jeff accuses Tom of doing his job incorrectly or insufficiently, Tom may play the race card by saying something in the lines of, Its just because Im black, huh? People that pull stunts like this should not be given respect because in reality, they just cannot face the fact that they make mistakes. They cannot cope with even any

imperfection that someone may find in them. These people start unnecessary troubles within teams and cause people to turn against each other. Even worse than these people are the kinds of people who support these actions and let them slide right by. Again in these instances, people can only get away with playing the race card to get another person in trouble when the leader is incompetent. The leader must either be ridiculously idiotic or have a personal problem with someone in order for them to allow someone to play the race card on another person. Stunts like these may lead to the army losing money as well. Leaders continue to waste government money to pursue cases of racial injustice when, in fact, there is clearly no case to be followed up on. These leaders dont care that they are wasting government money on cases like these. These leaders are only after one of two things. They are either, again, incompetent leaders who fail to realize that there is no racial injustice going on, or they have personal problems with the person being prosecuted and they want to get back at them. Leaders like this do not deserve to have a spot in the army. All they are doing is bringing shame to the army and making us look bad. This is why leadership in the army is so important, because with one incompetent leader, a whole team may become incompetent. All in all, racial tolerance may not always be the problem. It is the leadership and the people in charge that may make or break a team, which is why leadership is so important. Chairman and CEO Booz Allen talks about leadership and how it affects a team by saying, Leadership development is vital because organizations take on the personality of their leaders. Leadership training and development can maximize productivity, shape a positive culture and promote harmony. To achieve this, key people must lead individuals and teams using an appropriate leadership style. Leadership is never easy. No matter how effortlessly some leaders appear to manage, the path of a leader is one fraught with constant challenge and surprise. However, the leader does not face the challenge alone. By definition, a

leader has a group or organization working to meet each challenge and achieve each goal. The leaders job is not to solve every problem alone, but to inspire those he or she leads to solve the problems. Good leaders recognize that they do not have all the answers and are constantly reeducating themselves on their businesses and sharpening their leadership skills. Beyond personal qualities such as vision and positive thought, a leader must also take careful steps to communicate with his or her staff in the best way possible. This supports much of what I have already said about leadership and how it affects a team. Without great leadership, a group will never reach their full potential. In the end, racial tolerance in the army is very important because it will come to liberate a lot of unnecessary troubles within a group of people. It will help a team grow together and face obstacles much more smoothly. Racial tolerance is also very important in the army so that racial integration into different groups may happen. Racial integration in our army is a huge part of what makes our army such a successful organization. As important as racial tolerance is, people must not overreact over simple matters. Part of racial tolerance is acknowledging that not every comment is directed toward a specific race. Racial tolerance definitely calls for a sense of maturity, a trait that, unfortunately, not every person has. Racial tolerance must first be depicted by a teams leader in order for the team to have a set example to mirror after. A leader must exemplify racial tolerance and maturity for a team to inherit those traits. Without noble leadership, a team will never be able to grow, nevertheless even begin to show racial tolerance.