Personal Narrative: Life In The Military

I identify as an African American male who grew up facing the same issues that most African American males face i.e. raised by a single mother, not knowing my father, raised in a low income environment, blah, blah. I said all of that to say this; those factors haven’t plagued my life or my future. I embraced those negatives and turned them into positives. I had a really strong mother who made sure that I stayed on the right track in terms of my future success, and she did a great job. I joined the military the day after I graduated high school and haven’t looked back since. Life in the military has brought me many experiences, some good and some bad. But for the most part, the experiences have been good. The military fosters an environment
of social equality, so that is the persona that I’ve learned to exhibit. Not saying that I didn’t before, but my hometown wasn’t conducive to diverse relationships. Since joining the military I’ve had all types of friends i.e. White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. So I’ve learned not to single anyone out because of their race, religion, upbringing, background, or whatever their social difference may be. Everyone is equal in my eyes. However, when I look down into the ranks of the civilian sector, it’s not the same. The trend has always been that the military stays a few steps ahead of the civilian sector until they finally catch up to something that we’ve been doing. That is the case with the race issues that the U.S. is experiencing now. However, I’m optimistic that things will level out. After all, before it’s all said and done, this world will be one big melting pot, in a sense, purple.