African Americans File 71% of All Racial Abuse Complaints in US Army

According to the data provided by the Pentagon, in the financial year (FY) 2015, 71 percent of all the complaints about racial abuse issues were filed by African Americans.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — More than two thirds of all racial abuse-related complaints in the US Army are filed by African Americans, the Army Media Relations division told Sputnik on Friday.

According to the data provided, in the financial year (FY) 2015, 71 percent of all the complaints about racial abuse issues were filed by African Americans. In comparison, 14, 11 and three percent of such complaints were filed by Hispanics, Whites and Asians, respectively.

The percentage of African Americans filing such complaints in the last two years has risen by 11 percent, from 60 percent in the FY 2013.

The issue of racial abuse in the US Army cropped up on Wednesday, when it was reported that the US Army is investigating claims that a platoon of soldiers was encouraged to use racial slurs against each other once a week during "Racial Thursdays."

The practice allegedly took place in the Alaska-based unit where 19-year-old soldier Danny Chen, who killed himself while in Afghanistan in 2011 following harassment over his Chinese ancestry, served.