About 3,500 high schools in the U.S. have JROTC, or Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a $400 million program funded by the military and taught by veterans. But thousands of students aren’t in those classes by choice.
The vast majority of schools where at least 75% of students are in JROTC have predominantly Black students. Many are also low-income. And while some parents of students who have been automatically enrolled resisted, others embraced the course’s positive benefits.
Parents, faculty, and students have said that JROTC develops leadership, teamwork, better attendance, and of course, “discipline” and “obedience.”
But this program, which has over half a million students, is more than just a vessel for soft skills.
Today, 40% of kids who spend three years in JROTC end up in a service academy, college ROTC, or the armed services. According to the Army, 44% of its recent soldiers came from a school with JROTC. Students graduating from those schools are over 2x more likely to enlist.
For a military looking to diversify, targeting Black schools is an easy strike.
But as a community, we can teach Black children important values without feeding them into a system that continues to murder, oppress, and suppress Black people around the world. Their futures can look different and we can help build them.