Attorneys defending Sgt. Major McKinney -- the US Army's highest ranking enlisted man -- contend their client was charged only because he is not a full-fledged officer. This prompts PNS commentator Robert Fuller to note that, whatever the outcome of McKinney's trial, "rankism" is so pervasive in our society that "nobody" may become the "n" word of our time. Robert Fuller, past president of Oberlin College and currently Chairman of the Board of Internews, is working on a book about "somebodies" and "nobodies" and the rankism that divides them.

If Sergeant Major McKinney's lawyers are serious, the "N" word of the nineties is "Nobody."

The linchpin of their defense against the charges of sexual misconduct facing their client in his upcoming court-martial is that McKinney is a victim of rankism, not racism.

Although Sergeant Major McKinney was the Army's highest-ranking enlisted man, they contend that he is being singled out because his rank is not high enough. Had he been an officer--a member of "the general's club"-- the Army would have cut a deal and let him retire without prosecution.

This novel defense opens up the whole subject of rank and privilege in our society -- something more threatening than the now-familiar subjects of race and gender.

It is hardly news that rank and privilege are closely related, in the Army as well as in society. Corporate, political, religious, and intellectual leaders can use their rank-derived power to reap advantages in areas of life other than the ones in which they have earned their standing.

McKinney allegedly played the role of a towering "somebody" in seeking sexual favors. Now, ironically, he becomes a cowering "nobody" pointing a finger at those more powerful than he.

In the world of rank-and-privilege, it is not uncommon for the same individual to give and to get. A "somebody" in one context may find himself a "nobody" in another.

In itself, ranking is a legitimate and necessary practice. It's part of choosing a bunch of bananas, admitting students to a college, hiring and firing, or picking a mate. Without rank, we would have no grading, no competitive sports, no top ten anything, and the town drunk would expect a turn as mayor.

In contrast to ranking, rankism involves a sleight-of-hand in which power legitimately acquired in one area is exercised in other, unrelated areas. Sergeant McKinney's rank sanctioned his authority in military matters, but not beyond. Rankism is prevalent in our society. It persists because the power inherent in rank protects its holder.

Rankism includes the offenses of racism and sexism and far transcends them. It operates within the races and sexes as well as between them. Young and old alike are subject to indignities -- rankism's stock-in-trade -- from kindergarten to nursing home. If the polar archetypes of racism and sexism are "blacks" and "whites" and "females" and "males," respectively, those of rankism are "nobodies" and "somebodies." "Nobody" is the true "N" word of our time.

In Sergeant McKinney's case the rank at issue is military, but abuses stemming from differences in rank occur within all hierarchies -- companies, families, schools, groups of friends, society as a whole. But whereas racism and sexism have become socially unacceptable, rankism is still widely sanctioned -- in part, perhaps, because we have not named or identified it.

Rankist offenses run the gamut from bullying, incivility, demeaning or "dissing" another, to harassment and battering. Slavery and rape are more truly rankist practices than racial or sexual. Indeed, much behavior that's now labeled racist or sexist is more accurately called rankist.

Sergeant McKinney's case, could become a landmark by drawing attention to abuses based on rank. In time these might become as socially unacceptable as abuses based on other forms of discrimination. If we do not allow race, gender, religion, age, and sexual orientation to justify abuse, why allow rank? Disallowing rank and power as sanctioning discrimination is a necessary and timely step towards a more civil society.