Survey Time

Today's email:

On 2 Jun 20, Secretary Barrett, General Goldfein, and General Raymond directed the Department of the Air Force Inspector General to conduct a review into specific racial disparities in the Department of the Air Force. This effort is independent, under the direct authority of the Secretary. The report we produce will tell it like it is. And, once the review is complete, it will be widely and publicly available.

We want to encourage all our enlisted, officer, and civilian Air and Space Professionals to share your experiences and concerns, and we want to empower you to be a part of the solution. Your experiences and perspectives are critical, and your voices will be heard. We have a tremendous opportunity here, please take a few minutes to contribute to this enormously important effort by taking this anonymous, voluntary survey.

A sample:

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:

• Enlisted, officer, and civilian Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals feel a sense of inclusion, camaraderie, and belonging in my organization.
  

• Enlisted, officer, and civilian Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals are comfortable talking about race and ethnic diversity with their colleagues and leadership.
  

• My organization values the contributions and ideas of enlisted, officer, and civilian Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals.
  

• Enlisted, officer, and civilian Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals have the same opportunities for mentorship, feedback, and role models as others in my organization.
  

• Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals are treated differently than other Airmen and Space Professionals in the local community outside of my installation.
  

It seems that the only honest answer to how anyone else "feels" or what anyone else is "comfortable talking about" would be: How could I know that? I can only answer for myself.

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:

• In my organization, military Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals receive administrative disciplinary actions (LOCs/LOAs/LORs) more frequently than other Airmen and Space Professionals for the same behavior.
  

• I have witnessed supervisors/commanders engage in overt discrimination against military Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals when they give disciplinary action.
  

• military Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals are less likely to receive the "benefit of the doubt" in disciplinary actions.
  

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:

• My organization provides recognition to enlisted, officer, and civilian Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals on an equal and fair basis as compared to other Airmen and Space Professionals.
  

• My organization provides opportunities to promote and to advance enlisted, officer, and civilian Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals on an equal and fair basis as compared to other Airmen and Space Professionals.
  

• I have seen bias as it relates to career development opportunities for enlisted, officer, and civilian Black/African American Airmen and Space Professionals.
  

I'm pretty sure this is the most explicitly biased survey from the Air Force I have ever seen. At least in theory, men, for instance, could also report sexual discrimination and harassment in the multitudinous surveys on that subject. But here only anti-black bias can be reported, not anti-Asian (or anti-Mormon, for that matter) bias.

I certainly would not argue that all Air Force decision-making processes are in some sense metaphysically "fair"; on the contrary, I would assert the opposite. Nor would I maintain that no decision-makers are not biased against blacks (or if you prefer, biased along non-mission-related criteria that correlate with black to their disadvantage). But I would also predict that other decision-makers are both consciously and unconsciously biased in favor of blacks, and that these biases more-or-less cancel each other out overall. But to know this, the Air Force must ask both sets of questions.

Will this survey be the extent of the USAF's "review into specific racial disparities"? It is not implausible (though also not likely) that a careful review of, say, disciplinary actions over which commanders have some discretion might reveal systematic bias against some group or another (as opposed to merely showing that blacks in the Air Force are also more likely to misbehave). But asking people about their beliefs and feelings will only reveal the level of black grievance and entitlement.

You can only find what you look for. You may not find it, but you definitely won't find anything else. Let's suppose