Our Military Has a Racism Problem

Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash

We were 40-some-odd bald heads and Army-regulation hair buns sitting neatly, like ducks in a row, in the far end of a “bay” of 60 bunk beds. Most of us were 17; not even one was over 30. And we traveled here across the country for basic combat training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

I remember the scene well. Our eyes were trained on the man at the desk in front of us, an infantryman and a multi-tour…