As the U.S. has entered a new military conflict, Denver Urban Spectrum reflects on the history of African Americans and war.
American military history is full of heinous, racist, and violent acts committed against Black soldiers by their own military, yet their perseverance helped break barriers and inspired civil rights progress, evoking hope and admiration for future Black military service members.
Black people fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, though military law banned them from service before the Civil War. While laws of their own country denied their rights and freedoms, African Americans have fought in every American war from the Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783) to the Iraq War (2003 – 2011). They fought for American freedom and independence during the Revolutionary War; for the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War; for democracy in Europe during the World Wars; against communism in Korea and Vietnam; and against Islamic radicalism in the Middle East.
A particularly stark example of America’s double standard occurred on March 1, 1864, when Sgt. William Walker, an African American soldier serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, was executed by firing squad. After the Emancipation Proclamation, Black people were given the right to serve in the U.S. military. The Union Army created the United States Colored Troops and began recruiting African American men—Walker’s unit was part of that force. However, he did not accept improper treatment and complained about the pay disparity between the Black and white troops. He and two other men from the 3rd South Carolina Volunteers refused to fight until pay was adjusted. As a result, Walker was court martialed under the Articles of War, convicted, sentenced to death, and executed.
Walker paid the price for simply asking for fairness. He was paid less than half what the lowest-paid white soldier received. The Army promised Black soldiers $13 a month, but paid them only $10, and after being charged $3 for monthly clothing, Black soldiers made $7 per month. White soldiers made $13 a month, and the government provided white soldiers with their clothing.
Only three months after Walker’s execution, Congress passed legislation granting equal pay to Black soldiers, retroactive to the beginning of their service in June 1864. At the end of the Civil War, the Union Army had approximately 180,000 African American soldiers, 10% of the fighting force. In only three years, the Army went from having almost no Black members to almost 200,000 members in both the Army and the Navy.
Authorities may have thought that Walker had no right to complain about pay. It was a step up from slavery, as far as whites were concerned. The Colored Troops served in the military as laborers, servants, and cooks, the same jobs they did when they worked for the military as civilians. Now that they were given uniforms, the tasks expanded to include labor battalions digging ditches, building fortifications, and loading supplies. The American military banned Black service in the infantry, cavalry, and artillery. They endured harsh treatment from the white soldiers through insults, segregation in camps, unequal punishment, and disrespect for their cognitive abilities.
One year after the Civil War, Congress created the all-Black 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments and the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments, collectively known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Their nickname reflects their fierce fighting spirit and vital role in defending American interests, emphasizing their importance in military history. The Buffalo Soldiers fought in the Indian Wars, protected settlers and railroad routes, and built telegraph lines. They also fought in later wars such as the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War, and became the first National Park Rangers, protecting Yosemite National Park and others. Their units remained segregated until President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 in 1948, which mandated the integration of all military units.
The Great World Wars:
A Martial Freedom Movement
The political, economic, and social struggles of the Black soldiers during both World Wars were the same struggles faced by civilian African Americans: violence, segregation, and even lynching. As one Black soldier in training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, said in 1942, “We’re all wearing the same khaki, and they say we’re fighting for the same thing…and when those Japs and Wops start showing up, they don’t try to find out who is the white and who is the Black before they aim.”
Note: Ironically, you can see the harmful ethnic stereotypes that this Black soldier was using during the day. His words prove that not everyone is immune to insensitivity.
White military members, from enlisted men to officers, did not like segregation, and they were not shy about it in their treatment of Black service members. One of the dilemmas military officers at all-white officers’ clubs would (semi) jokingly muse about was whether to give a Black man a gun and teach him to kill white men, or to leave him home with all the white women.
African Americans Heed the Call
During the turn of the 19th century until World War I, there was no widespread opposition to the war in African American communities.
Educator and activist, Mary McLeod Bethune, the most powerful African American woman in America at the time and a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, released a call to unity for all African American men to defend their country. Bethune urged African Americans to embrace both fighting for civil rights in America and protecting the nation by fighting the global spread of fascism. She stated, “We must do all we can to preserve the spirit and morale, despite discrimination and handicaps… We must not fail America, and as Americans, we must insist that America shall not fail us.”
Scholar and intellect W.E.B. Du Bois stated, “Few men ever worshipped freedom with half such unquestioning faith as did the American Negro for two centuries.” Du Bois even stated the civil rights fight should be put off in favor of the fight overseas, but he later criticized his own words.
Black cabinet members Truman K. Dixon and Bill Hastie met with African American journalists at the War Department the day after Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1941, to urge them to write support for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration’s efforts in the war. For the most part, the journalists abided. It was not until the Vietnam War that Black journalists fell in line with the general anti-war public.
Just as in every American war, African Americans played a huge part in World War II. However, racial harmony faced many roadblocks along the way. This was a time when the Red Cross would not accept African American blood. The callousness of that reasoning can only equal the disastrous real-world application of such beliefs. After real bullets started flying, the Red Cross moved a little closer to ridiculousness when they accepted Black blood, but only for the use of other Black people. This was a time when some military brass refused to sign Blacks up in some locations. Yet African Americans rushed to sign up in such droves that they still made a difference.
The Black press, on the other hand, always showed strong opposition to the wars. It was complex. The question in any room would be: “Why fight for democracy abroad while being denied the same right at home?” The hope that Black participation in victory would secure freedoms at home drowned out most opposition as military personnel gradually dismantled those barriers. Those freedoms at home still were difficult, and it took time to eradicate some of the awful laws and policies; most of that freedom did come eventually, and it was the military establishment that struck the first blow to American segregation.
The Draft of World War I
The Army Bill of 1917, formally known as the Selective Service Act of 1917, enabled the Army to expand rapidly through compulsory service for men aged 21 to 30. This draft efficiently increased the number of military personnel for World War I, but the military remained racially segregated. African Americans, who were drafted, were assigned to labor and support roles, sometimes risking their safety in the process.
The Navy’s ammunition depot in Port Chicago in northern California assigned Black seamen to load ammunition on ships, with little to no training. On July 17, 1944, a massive explosion destroyed two munition ships. People heard the blast 80 miles away, and it shook 14 counties. Of the 320 people who were killed, more than 200 were African American. Less than three weeks later, the Navy ordered the traumatized Black workers back to work.
Wartime Executive Orders
Civil rights leader A. Phillip Randolf threatened to march on Washington to protest segregation in the armed forces. Under pressure to keep Black support, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 on June 25, 1941. The key provisions prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in the defense industry and federal employment. It also established the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to enforce compliance and investigate violations.
This legislation opened war industry jobs to African Americans, benefiting the civil rights movement, as the military-industrial complex helped dismantle some forms of discrimination in the broader civilian world. Even though Executive Order 8802 did not desegregate the military, it opened defense jobs to African Americans who would have otherwise not been able to attain these jobs. And, more importantly, it put pressure on the military to make further changes.
Then in 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which ended desegregation in the American military, to avoid racism’s grave consequences for national security. Without this order, white soldiers could use prejudice to disobey an order during war, refuse to fight. No military could afford to let soldiers pick and choose which orders to obey based on race.
Outstanding Combat Records
Truman did not give a gift to Black service members. The performance of African Americans in combat forced the issue of desegregation. As in all wars, African Americans showed valor and dedication to the flag that matched or surpassed those of white Americans.
The famed Tuskegee Airmen, the all-Black fighter 332nd Fighter Group and 447th Bombardment Group, had an outstanding combat record, including the lowest loss rate among escort groups in World War II. They flew combat missions in Europe and North Africa, were known for their distinctive plane tails, and were nicknamed the Red Tails.
The famed Harlem Hellfighters of World War I were officially the U.S. Army 369th Regiment, made up mostly of Black soldiers from Harlem and commanded by white officers because of segregation rules and laws. White soldiers refused to fight alongside them, so the Hellfighters fought under French command, earning their nickname for their fierceness from the Germans. They spent more time in combat than any other American unit. They also introduced jazz to Europe through James Reese Europe, a legendary jazz musician who led the unit’s band.
African American women numbered fewer than 100 during the First World War, but by the end of the Second World War, they numbered over 7,000. The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only Black, all-female unit stationed in England and France in 1945. They were 855-strong and known for clearing millions of backlogged pieces of mail. They worked in terrible conditions but boosted the troops’ morale. As with most of the Black experiences in the military, the women succeeded despite racism, sexism, and wartime pressure.
During the Vietnam War, several changes took place. Opportunities increased but remained limited during the early part of the war. The Army gradually expanded the roles available to Black soldiers, offering new jobs and skill sets. There was no longer a problem serving in combat roles. The 1960s were also a time of massive political change, and both the military and civilian sectors addressed racial problems, with each benefiting from the other’s work. The soldiers of the past sacrificed for what the military eventually became.
Today, with all military branches combined, African American members comprise 17.6% of the total force, compared to the overall Black American population of 13.7%. African American veterans earn 27% higher incomes than their Black civilian counterparts. Black home ownership is 19% higher among Black veterans than among Black civilians. Compared to all civilians, the VA healthcare system gives veterans better access to care, lowers their costs, provides more consistent preventive services, and reduces some racial disparities.
African American veterans have a storied history, and their participation has benefited the entire fabric of America. Their participation in American defense has benefited the world, and that tradition carries on today.
To truly embrace the dynamism of American history is to embrace all the contradictory elements that make up its fabric. There is much to hate, and much to love, even if the best ideas about liberty and freedom have yet to develop in America.
A group of people, much maligned, segregated, and violated by the law of the land have ironically stood strong for ideas written in the Constitution by their oppressors. They fought and died for freedoms they never knew, as they believed that fighting under the for American flag would help to bring human decency to their enemies abroad and at home. All Americans, regardless of nationality, race, or religion, owe a great debt to those brave men and women who were, and still are, at the cutting edge of what seems like an eternal fight for human freedom and dignity.
Editor’s note: Thomas Holt Russell is the founder and director of SEMtech, an educator, photographer, modern-day Luddite, Existentialist, and Secular Humanist. For more information, visit http://thomasholtrussell.zenfolio.com/
