After reading Tim O'Brien's short story, "On The Rainy River", about a 22 year old's consideration of dodging his draft letter for the Vietnam war by going to Canada, I was curious about the genuine randomness of the draft.
The wikipedia page for the Draft Lottery (1969) claims that the draft, " strengthen[ed] the anti-war movement all over America as people decried discrimination by the draft system 'against against low-education, low-income, underprivileged members of society'".
Is there any basis or evidence for these protester's claims of discrimination/corruption? Or did a wealthy college junior have as much of chance at being drafted as a poor unemployed 20 year old?
Thank you to anyone who can help.
The one of two ways the affluent could avoid the draft was with a 2-S deferment that allowed for attending college as a way for being excused from the draft. In theory this delayed exposure, but usually a full undergraduate program left a candidate as too old for the army to induct.
The second way the affluent could purchase a way out of the draft was by acquiring a coveted spot in the National Guard. These were rare, and so they were usually reserved for those with the influence to acquire positions for their sons. And the truly affluent could expect that their sons would need to serve very little in the Guard.