Black Americans more hesitant about overseas military intervention: report

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | African Americans are much less in favor of sending U.S. forces to defend Ukraine than the general U.S. population, according to the findings from a new poll from the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment.

Only 21 percent of Black Americans supported sending military forces to Ukraine, according to the data collected online in early September. In contrast, in a separate poll in August, 38 percent of all Americans supported sending U.S. troops to defend Ukraine.

African American hesitation about engaging in armed conflict should not be misinterpreted as a lack of patriotism or even skepticism about U.S. armed forces. In fact, a vast majority of African Americans polled expressed either “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” views of the U.S. military.

This divergence between Black Americans’ support for the military and lack of support for direct military intervention probably reflects their unique experiences with the military and their historical role in the U.S. 20th and 21st century wars, said the report.

“Despite hopes of achieving racial equality through military service, African American veterans have sometimes been denied benefits, and become victims of racial violence despite their service to the country,” it added.