Study Finds Army Vets Are More Comfortable With Racial Residential Integration Than Non-Vets

us_army_logoPrevious studies have shown that the U.S. Army has become one of the most racially integrated institutions in the nation. (See for example the 1996 book, All That We Can Be: Black Leadership And Racial Integration The Army Way by Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler).

A new study by sociologists at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Connecticut finds that soldiers’ experiences with racial integration in the military result in veterans being more willing to live in racially integrated neighborhoods once they return to civilian life. The data shows that White veterans have 3.2 percent fewer non-Hispanic Whites in their neighborhoods than those who have not served in the military.

The authors write that “in a society where racial residential segregation remains largely intractable for some marginalized groups, it is important to ask where we can find an exception to the rule and then ask why. In this paper we have addressed the first part of that question, showing that White U.S. veterans do not behave similarly to the average White civilian. This is a positive trend that has gone largely unnoticed.”

The study, “Residential Segregation: The Mitigating Effects of Past Military Experience,” was published in the November 2016 issue of the journal Social Science Research. It may be accessed here.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

The Education Department Takes Aim at Colleges’ Diversity and Inclusion Programs

The acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the United States Department of Education, warned colleges and universities that they risked losing federal funding if they continued to use race as a factor in a wide range of programs.

Black Americans Represent Just 5 Percent of All Top Staff in the New U.S. Congress

While Black Americans represent nearly 14 percent of the total U.S. population, they represent just 5.5 percent of all top staff positions in the personal offices of U.S. House members and senators.

Thierno Thiam Named Provost of Tuskegee University in Alabama

Dr. Thiam previously spent several years with Tuskegee University, serving in both academic and administrative capacities. Most recently, he served as the chief academic officer for Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina.

Examining Racial Diversity Among Lead Actors in 2024’s Highest-Earning Films

Only 25 films out of the top 100 highest-earning movies in 2024 featured a non-White lead or co-lead actor. These 25 films feature a combined 26 protagonists, 10 of whom are Black.

Featured Jobs