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FROM SEGREGATION TO THE BACKDOOR DRAFT: HOW STRUCTURAL RACISM FUELS
AMERICA’S ENDLESS WARS  
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Sharon Kyle
June 27, 2025
LA Progressive
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_ De jure segregation, the backdoor draft, and elite immunity are
part of a recurring cycle of American inequality. As the U.S.
threatens new war in Iran, history again points to who will bear the
cost—and who will benefit. _

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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
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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._

* endless war
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* de jure segregation
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* de facto segregation
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* conscription
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* Iran
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