The Military Option

Today, I met with Carlos Alberto Medeiros, an activist with the black movement, regarding the Brazilian military. Upon asking him about affirmative action in the military, he responded quickly and convincingly that there was nothing remotely close to affirmative action in the military. Instead, he remarked that the military uses a strict meritocracy in which race does not factor. Later, he said that the military’s official ideology is racial democracy and it cannot take any action diverging from that ideology. I went on to ask him about the racial demographics of the military, but he said such data was unavailable and had never been collected or aggregated.

I was in no way shocked by his statements because I had been forewarned by others. I already knew that the military did not keep such data, and I also knew that the military had no intentions of implementing affirmative action. However, Medeiros offered some information which did surprise me: Afro-Brazilians often look to the military as an avenue out of poverty. This surprised me for multiple reasons, two of which were the military’s resistance to race conscious remedies and the military’s, and military police’s, negative reputation. Why would Afro-Brazilians choose the military over other options, such as higher education?

The military serves as an attractive option for Afro-Brazilians. Students at military academies receive clothing, food, books and other costs. In addition, not only do these academies not charge tuition, they even pay students. Students also enjoy the status associated with the military. It is clear why poor people find themselves drawn towards the military. The U.S. military offers similar incentives geared towards recruiting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Both militaries provide opportunities otherwise inaccessible for many.

Medeiros estimated that Afro-Brazilians constitute about ten percent of the student body in military academies, a number considerably higher than the private sector and even universities. Entrance into military academies depends on scores from the vestibular. This information implies that Afro-Brazilians do better comparatively than in other university vestibulars. Another possibility is that Afro-Brazilians apply as a larger proportion than for other universities.

Of course, despite these apparent positives, Afro-Brazilians make a progressively smaller percentage of officers at higher positions. This disturbing trend continues, but it does not seem to be enough to begin an affirmative action debate within the military.