http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/nyregion/pvt-chens-family-learns-more-about-hazing-by-fellow-gis.html?_r=2
Though I don't want to underplay this incident because it is very serious, I have to say that this is not the experience of all Asian Americans in the military. For myself in basic training and AIT, I don't think I experienced anything like that, and I certainly wasn't singled out for being Asian. It wasn't until I was getting ready to deploy to Iraq, in the mobilization process, that I really experienced anything, and even then it was more of the benign, Michael Scott variety - insensitive jokes that the teller thought was really funny, but really weren't.
Additionally, the Army's political correctness tool (Equal Opportunity) can be a very powerful means to make sure that racism stops in its tracks. People can lose their careers over saying the wrong thing, so I'm a little surprised it got to the point where they were making PVT Chen yell orders to the entire battalion... who in their right mind, with enough time in service to make it as a field grade officer, would abide that??? Oh, it's another Stryker unit... I don't really understand what's up with that.
Though I don't want to underplay this incident because it is very serious, I have to say that this is not the experience of all Asian Americans in the military. For myself in basic training and AIT, I don't think I experienced anything like that, and I certainly wasn't singled out for being Asian. It wasn't until I was getting ready to deploy to Iraq, in the mobilization process, that I really experienced anything, and even then it was more of the benign, Michael Scott variety - insensitive jokes that the teller thought was really funny, but really weren't.
Additionally, the Army's political correctness tool (Equal Opportunity) can be a very powerful means to make sure that racism stops in its tracks. People can lose their careers over saying the wrong thing, so I'm a little surprised it got to the point where they were making PVT Chen yell orders to the entire battalion... who in their right mind, with enough time in service to make it as a field grade officer, would abide that??? Oh, it's another Stryker unit... I don't really understand what's up with that.
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