I always thought it was interesting how some of the most high-profile victims of the Pentagon's heinous "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy were people of color (Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, Lt. Dan Choi, Second Lt. Sandy Tsao). Now a new report sheds some light on this. It turns out that nonwhite military personnel are more likely than their white counterparts to be discharged under the policy.

According to a report obtained by Servicemembers United:

While racial minorities account for approximately 29% of active service members, according to the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, about 45% of the 640 men and women discharged under "don't ask, don't tell" in fiscal year 2008 were nonwhite.

Alexander Nicholson, a former U.S. Army interrogator and the executive director of Servicemembers United, said the disproportionate number of women and racial minorities being discharged under the 16-year-old law was well known before the study. "These new numbers, however, show that the problem is getting worse and that this policy has ultimately failed," Nicholson said in a statement on Thursday. "Lawmakers have a responsibility to address this problem immediately, and the president should hasten the appointment of a new undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness who is qualified and willing to deal with this issue."

Women, who make up 15% of all armed forces, accounted for one third of "don't ask, don't tell" discharges.

Once again, the issues of race and sexual orientation and bigotry meet again. Could one form of discrimination (homophobia) been used to cover up another form (racism and/or sexism)? From my experience, the people most like to discriminate against one group are most likely to discriminate against all groups.