In Proving Patriotismo, the authors examine Latino military recruitment and question whether military service is perceived and functions as a vehicle by which Latinos in the United States can be accepted as first-class citizens and improve their economic station? This work provides the first empirical analysis of the poverty draft by asking over 1,800 Latino high school students in South Texas about their experiences with military recruitment. The authors then employ additional original interview data with high school faculty and administration to assess how the military seeks to attract Latino students. Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces are also surveyed to understand their military experience and assess whether their service improved their acceptance as American and improved their post-service quality of life. The work concludes with an examination of national survey data where Latinos provide their views of the U.S. military and Latino military service. The result of this work is a complex picture where the intersection of poverty, ethnicity and patriotism demonstrates why the U.S. military targets a growing Latino population for recruitment and why Latinos in the United States seeking to improve their economic station and their acceptance as American are open to these overtures.

Adam McGlynn is professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science and Economics at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

Jessica Lavariega Monforti is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at California Lutheran University

List of Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Learning from Our Students

Chapter 1: Institutional Behavior as Institutional Racism: The U.S. Military and its Relationship to Latino Belonging and Patriotism

Chapter 2: Growing a Latino Army? An Empirical Evaluation of the Existence of the Poverty Draft

Chapter 3:The Role of Military Recruiters& JROTC Programs in Latino-Majority High Schools

Chapter 4: Proving Patriotism: Latino Student and Veteran Views on Military Service

Chapter 5: Intersecting Identities: Latino Views on Military Recruitment and Service

Chapter 6: Achieving Ethical Recruitment of the Latinx Citizen-Soldier and the Political Agency of the Latino Veteran

Bibliography

Appendix A: High School Student Survey Questions

Appendix B: High School Faculty Staff Survey& Interview Questions

Appendix C: Veterans Interview Questions

Appendix D: CMPS Survey Questions