From Segregation to the Backdoor Draft: How Structural Racism Fuels America’s Endless Wars
From housing discrimination to military recruitment, from school segregation to foreign policy, some issues in American life may seem disconnected—mere fragments of a chaotic system. But upon closer examination, these seemingly unrelated policies and practices are bound by a common root: the deliberate consolidation of power by a wealthy, white ruling class.
From the very inception of the United States, a privileged elite has engineered laws, institutions, and cultural narratives to preserve its dominance—initially through racialized land seizures and redistribution, the brutal system of chattel slavery, and exclusionary immigration policies; later through Jim Crow segregation; and today through more insidious mechanisms like militarized borders, discriminatory policing, mass incarceration, exploitative labor practices, and the weaponization of poverty. At the core lies structural white supremacy—an evolving, interlocking system of racial and class oppression that resists democracy, adapts with time, and refuses to cede power.
Today, as the Trump administration escalates tensions with Iran following the bombing of that nation’s nuclear facilities, we once again stand at the precipice of war. If military conflict erupts, it will be poor and working-class Americans—especially people of color and rural whites—who will be the first to serve, fight, and die. They are overrepresented in the armed forces but not by coincidence, by design. Economic hardship, lack of opportunity, and targeted recruitment strategies ensure that the burden of war continues to fall on those already most oppressed by the system.
Precarity by Design
When we think of de jure segregation—the legally mandated separation of Black and white Americans—most recall the Jim Crow South: water fountains labeled “colored,” separate schools, and public transportation divided by race. And when we speak of the backdoor draft, the term usually evokes America’s modern military system—a "volunteer" army that is trying to "be all that they can be" but is disproportionately drawn from poor and working-class communities due to lack of economic opportunity -- in other words precarity by design.
At first glance, these two systems may appear disconnected—one rooted in racial caste, the other in militarism. But they share a common thread: both are vestiges of state-sanctioned structures that continue to operate long after their official repeal, kept alive by structural inequality and economic coercion.
Although the legal framework of de jure segregation was dismantled in the mid-20th century, de facto segregation—the separation of racial groups through custom, policy, and systemic neglect—persists through housing discrimination, exclusionary zoning, racially biased policing, and unequal school funding. These forms of segregation create and sustain a state of precarity, where the basic conditions of life—housing, education, safety, and economic stability—are persistently undermined. Precarity, in turn, becomes fertile ground for a host of social ills, from chronic poverty and poor health outcomes to mass incarceration and community disinvestment. The consequences for Black and brown communities are both enduring and compounding.
Conscription—commonly known as the draft—is the mandatory enlistment of individuals into military service, typically imposed by a government during times of war or national crisis. In contrast, the backdoor draft refers to the practice of recruiting economically vulnerable individuals into military service, creating a system that is voluntary in appearance but coercive in reality.
While the U.S. officially ended the draft in 1973, the modern military continues to rely on economic vulnerability as a recruitment tool. The backdoor draft may not be legally mandated, but its reliance on structural inequality makes it functionally coercive, particularly for low-income and minority youth.
The Throughline: Elite Immunity and Extraction
Across all four systems—de jure segregation, de facto segregation, conscription, and the backdoor draft—one group remains consistently unaffected by the harm, yet enriched by the outcomes: the rich white elite.
Whether we’re talking about legally segregated neighborhoods or economically segregated school districts, forced military service or economically coerced enlistment, the pattern is clear: the burden is disproportionately placed on the working class and communities of color, while the wealthiest and most powerful are insulated by privilege.
During Jim Crow, white elites sent their children to well-funded private and well resourced whites-only public schools while public Black schools languished. In the age of redlining and school zoning, affluent white families could simply relocate to preserve exclusivity and avoid integration. During wartime drafts, deferments for college, medical excuses like bone spurs, or political connections shielded the elite from combat. Today, military recruiters rarely frequent elite prep schools or Ivy League campuses. Instead, they saturate underfunded public schools and urban neighborhoods with promises of opportunity.
In every case, the same structure persists: the elite benefit from social stability, cheap labor (fueled by precarity), and a narrative that national defense—without bearing any of the personal risk. They are protected not only by wealth but by the institutions that they themselves control and influence.
The Nexus: State-Sanctioned Inequality Repackaged
So how are de jure segregation and the backdoor draft connected?
• Both originate from state structures: Segregation was written into law; military conscription and recruitment are funded, designed, and perpetuated by the state.
• Both target marginalized populations: Segregation excluded Black Americans; the backdoor draft funnels poor Black, Brown, and rural white youth into the armed forces.
• Both survive through economics: Legal segregation may be outlawed, but economic disparity ensures its continuity. Similarly, formal conscription may be dead, but economic precarity fuels enlistment.
• Both create systems of containment: One keeps people out (of schools, neighborhoods, voting booths); the other locks them in (military service, PTSD, cycles of enlistment).
• And both allow the rich white elite to remain untouched by the costs—while continuing to profit from the systems they designed.
Conclusion: The Cycle Continues—With Iran in the Crosshairs
Understanding the nexus between de jure segregation and the backdoor draft forces us to confront a difficult truth: systems of oppression rarely die; they adapt.
And now, we may be on the brink of another chapter. Given the recent U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, the prospect of direct military conflict with Iran is no longer hypothetical—it is immediate and real. Should the conflict escalate, the U.S. military will once again draw heavily from the very communities it has historically exploited.
Those who will be first to serve—and possibly die—will not be the sons and daughters of the powerful. They will be young people from underfunded school districts, economically isolated neighborhoods, and racially marginalized communities. In other words, the same people who bore the brunt of segregation and who continue to be funneled into service through the backdoor draft.
This is not new. It is history repeating itself, refined for a modern audience, but still engineered by the same forces that have always treated Black and Brown lives as expendable in the name of empire, profit, and national pride.
Until we challenge not just the outcomes, but the entire structure of state-sanctioned inequality, this cycle will continue—conflict after conflict, generation after generation.
Sharon Kyle JD is a former president of the Guild Law School and is the publisher and co-founder of the LA Progressive. For years before immersing herself in the law and social justice, Ms. Kyle was a member of several space flight teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she managed resources for projects like Magellan, Genesis, and Mars Pathfinder. Sharon is a former member of the Board of Directors of the ACLU and is on the editorial board of the BlackCommentator.com. Opinions are my own.
The LA Progressive openly and unapologetically supports and employs advocacy journalism. We believe the media not only informs the public, but it also works towards engaging citizens and creating public debate. We embrace the idea of civic journalism and reject the idea that objective reporting is even possible. We don’t believe that journalists can be objective spectators of politics, and we don’t pretend otherwise.
A host of gifted writers contribute to the LA Progressive's daily offering, which typically amounts to 45 articles a week. Dick and Sharon write as well as edit and publish. The LA Progressive covers the gamut of progressive issues both on the domestic and international stages, with a particular focus on local issues in Los Angeles, the home of the LA Progressive.