Existing comment:
SELECTIVE SERVICE
During the Vietnam War, the military draft -- which affected men aged 18 to 26 -- forced younger Americans to think about potential combat service. Thorny questions of patriotism and sacrifice are embedded in the art of the period, often revealing opposing perspectives that divided the country.
For much of the war, the Selective Service allowed deferments for college and graduate students, a system that was later deemed unfair. Conscripts were more likely to see combat and bore a disproportionate share of the casualties. The draft thus became a galvanizing political issue among economically disadvantaged minorities, who were struggling for full civil rights at home even as their young men fought for the country abroad. The Black Arts and Chicano art movements, ascendant at the time, insisted on art's political role and emphasized cultural self-determination, providing a context in which artists of color such as David Hammons and Mel Casas tackled themes of national identity and service. |