African Americans in World War I
A prominent feature of the US prior to, during and years after World War I is that they maintained a racially segregated military; it was dominated by white soldiers and officers. This discrimination was not restricted to the US, but also to Europe where it remains so rampant that as late as 2007, military recruits were “being encouraged to imagine that they are shooting Black men” during shhoting training (Shabazz 1). The few African American soldiers who managed to get a chance to join the US forces were assigned non-combat duties which largely entailed serving the white soldiers. African Americans were considered unfit for combat roles and were therefore rarely deployed for such duties. Before the First World War, no African American was allowed to join the US Marine Corps, the Air Force or the Coast Guard. Their chance to take active combat duties for their country came with World War I when thousands of black soldiers were allowed to join the US combat forces to address the serious shortage of troops that arose due to the demands of the war. Their performance in the battlefield was to earn them much respect by the end of the war and to challenge the long-held belief that black Americans were incapable of fighting in organized war. However, during and after the war, African American troops did not receive the honour their white counterparts received. Racial discrimination was much a common feature in the military as it was in the country’s leadership. This ensured that African Americans’ life in the battlefield was, just like at home, more difficult than the white American soldiers. This paper looks at the role of African Americans in the First World War, their contributions and the ungratefulness the US leadership extended to these soldiers despite valiant efforts and sacrifices in the battle-fields.
African Americans in World War I
Prior to the First World War, racial segregation policies ensured that no African American joined the US Marines, Coast Guard or the Air Force. The Navy accepted some blacks to emlist but they had to work as messmen, and were not to be assigned any combat positions (Robertson 321). Never did Americans anticipate a situation where the wealthy military powerhouse would depend on the bravery and military prowess of this minority group. In the eyes of the white military officers, African Americans “lacked the courage, discipline and intelligence to fight effectively” (Aizenman, B.01). Thus there were only a few African American soldiers in the US military before this important war.
Shortly after the approximately 300,000 Afrivcan Americans joined the battle and left for the battlezones across the Atlantic, some white Americans descended on the now defenceless African-American ghettoes where they killed about 200 African American civilians and displaced 6,000 more (Katz 5). This was a most prominent indicator of white Americans’ hypocrisy, hatred, intolerance and selfishness.
Several African American volunteer regiments had been created during the Civil war but had been hurriedly disbanded after the war. Instead, six Army regiments, comprising African American soldiers serving under white officers were created. The 9th and 10th cavalry and the 24th and 25th infantry regiments were instrumental in the Indian war and the Spanish-American War. These were the only operational black units by the time the US joined World War I (Bryan).
With the onset of the war, a serious demand for combat troops arose and the US lacked a better option, other than to accept the African Americans it had judged totally unsuitable for its military. In fact, the draft boards “were doing all they could to bring them into service” (Bryan). African Americans on the other hand took this as an opportunity to prove to their oppressors that they were not capable of engaging any enemy in battle, but were not any inferior to the white American soldiers who believed in their own supremacy and the supremacy of their combat skills. When the US joined the war in 1917, numerous black commentators called on African Americans to join the forces and fight for their country as would enforce their clamour for equal rights. Among those calling African Americans to enlist was W.E.B Du Bois whose commmentaries on The Crisis magazine appealed to African Americans to join the battle. “If this is our country, then this is our war” wrote Du Bois.
As soon as the Selective Service Act was passed in May 1917 allowing African Americans aged between 21 and 31 years to join the military, they took the opportunity readily. It so happened that the African-American soldiers proved as good as the white soldiers, if not better.
The training program for these black soldiers provided the chance for the white instructors and officers to extend their racist mindsets. As soon as they joined training, instructors started complaining that they African Americans were slower learners than white trainees (Leiser 112). In Houston, Texas, Spartanburg and Fort Riley, African American soldiers were mistreated by their white counterparts during training.Fights between white soldiers and the oppressed black soldiers were not rare in the camps. Some black soldiers were arrested and convicted by court martial of such crimes as burglary only to be released after intervention by campaigners and judges (The Crisis 60)
Most of the African-Americans who joined the US military during the war had known racial discrimination throughout their lives. Many were from America’s south where they had grown up “in the usual, repressive Jim Crow environment found throughout the South” (Tate 106). In the military, they were treated as second class citizens and second class soldiers regardless of their experience or academic qualifications and skills. The white seniors had to ensure that no black soldiers rose to a rank which allowed them to command white soldiers. This meant that African American soldiers had to be restricted to the lowest ranks in the military. The white US military officers were convinced that “black soldiers were lazy, afraid of the dark, couldn’t take care of their weapons, wouldn’t dig foxholes, didn’t trust each other and thus would not stand and fight” (Galloway 45).
Dubois had complained that thw white American society, despite being the most vocal supporters of democracy, retained undying racial prejudices which made them see the African Americans as inferior beings. He wrote, “America, the land of democracy, here comes forward with increased frequency as a supporter of the doctrine that democracy belonged to the white race alone” (Keene 138)
When the US military deployed the first all-black units to Europe, the black soldiers appreciated that they had the tougher duty of not only fighting the enemy overseas, but also proving their capability to a white military and society which did not have much trust in them. By fighting in the US military uniform, the African Americans saw an opportunity for them to defeat the rampant racial discrimination at home. They chose to “walk the highway of patriotism, with human dignity, in the face of racial insults” attacking enemies with bravery and professionalism that would amaze even the white supremacist officers (Gershenhorn 159).Their exploits in the war against the discriminating military seniors inspired their counterparts at home to fight and defeat racial segregation. One woman was recorded asserting, “When we read of the many insults which come to our boys in the uniform, we should be moved to fight with increased energy for the things that rightfully should be ours” (Gershenhorn 159).
About 200, 000 black soldiers served overseas, a quarter of whom took active combat duties. The African American soldiers joined the Black 369th Infantry of the 93rd Division and crossed the Rhine in Germany as the first Allied forces group and were confronted with fierce opposition from German troops. The soldiers fought the German enemies so ferociously that the Germans nicknamed them “Hell fighters.” So valiant were these African American soldiers that they are known to have engaged used their bare hands and knives to fight Germans armed with rifles (Crisis 44). The Harlem Hell Fighters remained in the battlezones longer than all other American combat units.
Racism was still rife in the battlefields in Europe where black troops are claimed to have been sent on the most dangerous missions. There were also claims that injured African American soldiers were abandoned in the battlefields to succumb to their injuries, often dying painful and horrifying deaths. Yet the same soldiers complained that they were not seeing the most intense action (Military History Home n.d). Evidence of this racism manifested by the white American soldiers against their black counterparts was that the black combat unit attached with French commanders tended to perform far better than those under the leadership of white American officers. Du Bois argues that the white and racist seniors were largely to blame for the weaknesses noted among their African American chargees. After the war, interviews with African American troops returning from the war revealed that members of the unit which had been put under French command had had better experiences than the rest. With the French, “black soldiers could eat where they wanted and socialize with whom they liked… [and] laugh and joke and think as friends” (Keene 143).
On returning home, the African Americans realized that, despite having earned some respect from white Americans who had dismissed them as unsuitable for battle, they were still far from realizing any semblence of equality in the interactions with the white American society. Actually the white American soldiers were quick to dismiss the African American soldiers as cowards and unprofessionals. One white soldier said on returning home from the war, “African-American soldiers were a bunch of cowards… every one of them would rape a white woman if he was not held down by the whites” (Keene 143).
The French, on the other hand, had much praise for the African soldiers whom they worked with and regarded as professional and brave fighters whose dedication to the United States and democracy was unshakable. While the US dilly-dallied, the French went ahead to award one of the soldiers who had single-handedly managed to fought off a group 20 German attackers to rescue his comrade with a Croire de Guerre with Gold Palm (The New York Amsterdam News 43). The French General Goybet of the 157th Division of the French forces in praising the 372nd US Infantry Division remarked:
Never will the 157th Division forget the indomitable dash, the heroic rush of the American Regiments (Black) up the observartory ridge and into the plains of Manthois…These crack regiments overcame every obstacle with a most complete contempt for danger. Through their steady devotion, the Red Hand, for nine whole days of severe struggle, was constantly leading the way for the victorious advance of the Fourth Army” (The Crisis 44).
When they returned home therefore, African American soldiers had to continue the fight which was far from won, the fight against racial discrimination.This, they realized was going to be a battle tougher than the one against Germans they had just defeated. One member of the Hell Fighters remarked on return to America, “We are going to keep fighting for democracy till we get our rights here at home. The black worm has turned” (Katz ). The US government was unwilling to reward their achievements and sacrifices during the war as it did with the white soldiers. While hoardes of airtime and newspaper space was devoted to the praise of the accomplishments of the American soldiers who had just vanquished their nenmies overseas, not much was said about the black soldiers who had been instrumental to the victory. At the end of the war, members of the 369th Infantry were awarded the Croix de Guerre in honor of the bravery and dedication to their country (The Crisis 44). Only years later did writers generate interest in the experiences of the African American soldiers.
Shortly after the end of the First World War, white Americans again attacked African American settlements in 26 cities, wreaking havoc and killing African Americans including the soldiers who had just returned from the war. However, this ‘Red Summer’ attacks marked a change in the relationship between white and black Americans. While the white Americans had attacked African American settlements and got away with, the post-World-War I African Americans were aggressive and eager to defend their rights. The African Amerians arose and fought back, with as much gallantry as they had shown during the war. The Harlem poet Claude Mckay inspired the African American society with one of his poems:
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in inglorious spot
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighhting back (Katz 5).
The US may not have honoured African American veterans of the First and Second World War equally with white veterans of the same wars. It may have declined to acknowledge the important role played by the African American troops during that war. Worse still it may have denied African Americans their rights even after the sacrifices they had made for the United States. That has however not dilluted the role these brave and dedicated soldiers played between 1914 and 1919. Through numerous authors and film-makers, the world now knows what happened during that period and admires the bravery and dedication of African American soldiers.
African Americans in World War I
Prior to the First World War, racial segregation policies ensured that no African American joined the US Marines, Coast Guard or the Air Force. The Navy accepted some blacks to emlist but they had to work as messmen, and were not to be assigned any combat positions (Robertson 321). Never did Americans anticipate a situation where the wealthy military powerhouse would depend on the bravery and military prowess of this minority group. In the eyes of the white military officers, African Americans “lacked the courage, discipline and intelligence to fight effectively” (Aizenman, B.01). Thus there were only a few African American soldiers in the US military before this important war.
Shortly after the approximately 300,000 Afrivcan Americans joined the battle and left for the battlezones across the Atlantic, some white Americans descended on the now defenceless African-American ghettoes where they killed about 200 African American civilians and displaced 6,000 more (Katz 5). This was a most prominent indicator of white Americans’ hypocrisy, hatred, intolerance and selfishness.
Several African American volunteer regiments had been created during the Civil war but had been hurriedly disbanded after the war. Instead, six Army regiments, comprising African American soldiers serving under white officers were created. The 9th and 10th cavalry and the 24th and 25th infantry regiments were instrumental in the Indian war and the Spanish-American War. These were the only operational black units by the time the US joined World War I (Bryan).
With the onset of the war, a serious demand for combat troops arose and the US lacked a better option, other than to accept the African Americans it had judged totally unsuitable for its military. In fact, the draft boards “were doing all they could to bring them into service” (Bryan). African Americans on the other hand took this as an opportunity to prove to their oppressors that they were not capable of engaging any enemy in battle, but were not any inferior to the white American soldiers who believed in their own supremacy and the supremacy of their combat skills. When the US joined the war in 1917, numerous black commentators called on African Americans to join the forces and fight for their country as would enforce their clamour for equal rights. Among those calling African Americans to enlist was W.E.B Du Bois whose commmentaries on The Crisis magazine appealed to African Americans to join the battle. “If this is our country, then this is our war” wrote Du Bois.
As soon as the Selective Service Act was passed in May 1917 allowing African Americans aged between 21 and 31 years to join the military, they took the opportunity readily. It so happened that the African-American soldiers proved as good as the white soldiers, if not better.
The training program for these black soldiers provided the chance for the white instructors and officers to extend their racist mindsets. As soon as they joined training, instructors started complaining that they African Americans were slower learners than white trainees (Leiser 112). In Houston, Texas, Spartanburg and Fort Riley, African American soldiers were mistreated by their white counterparts during training.Fights between white soldiers and the oppressed black soldiers were not rare in the camps. Some black soldiers were arrested and convicted by court martial of such crimes as burglary only to be released after intervention by campaigners and judges (The Crisis 60)
Most of the African-Americans who joined the US military during the war had known racial discrimination throughout their lives. Many were from America’s south where they had grown up “in the usual, repressive Jim Crow environment found throughout the South” (Tate 106). In the military, they were treated as second class citizens and second class soldiers regardless of their experience or academic qualifications and skills. The white seniors had to ensure that no black soldiers rose to a rank which allowed them to command white soldiers. This meant that African American soldiers had to be restricted to the lowest ranks in the military. The white US military officers were convinced that “black soldiers were lazy, afraid of the dark, couldn’t take care of their weapons, wouldn’t dig foxholes, didn’t trust each other and thus would not stand and fight” (Galloway 45).
Dubois had complained that thw white American society, despite being the most vocal supporters of democracy, retained undying racial prejudices which made them see the African Americans as inferior beings. He wrote, “America, the land of democracy, here comes forward with increased frequency as a supporter of the doctrine that democracy belonged to the white race alone” (Keene 138)
When the US military deployed the first all-black units to Europe, the black soldiers appreciated that they had the tougher duty of not only fighting the enemy overseas, but also proving their capability to a white military and society which did not have much trust in them. By fighting in the US military uniform, the African Americans saw an opportunity for them to defeat the rampant racial discrimination at home. They chose to “walk the highway of patriotism, with human dignity, in the face of racial insults” attacking enemies with bravery and professionalism that would amaze even the white supremacist officers (Gershenhorn 159).Their exploits in the war against the discriminating military seniors inspired their counterparts at home to fight and defeat racial segregation. One woman was recorded asserting, “When we read of the many insults which come to our boys in the uniform, we should be moved to fight with increased energy for the things that rightfully should be ours” (Gershenhorn 159).
About 200, 000 black soldiers served overseas, a quarter of whom took active combat duties. The African American soldiers joined the Black 369th Infantry of the 93rd Division and crossed the Rhine in Germany as the first Allied forces group and were confronted with fierce opposition from German troops. The soldiers fought the German enemies so ferociously that the Germans nicknamed them “Hell fighters.” So valiant were these African American soldiers that they are known to have engaged used their bare hands and knives to fight Germans armed with rifles (Crisis 44). The Harlem Hell Fighters remained in the battlezones longer than all other American combat units.
Racism was still rife in the battlefields in Europe where black troops are claimed to have been sent on the most dangerous missions. There were also claims that injured African American soldiers were abandoned in the battlefields to succumb to their injuries, often dying painful and horrifying deaths. Yet the same soldiers complained that they were not seeing the most intense action (Military History Home n.d). Evidence of this racism manifested by the white American soldiers against their black counterparts was that the black combat unit attached with French commanders tended to perform far better than those under the leadership of white American officers. Du Bois argues that the white and racist seniors were largely to blame for the weaknesses noted among their African American chargees. After the war, interviews with African American troops returning from the war revealed that members of the unit which had been put under French command had had better experiences than the rest. With the French, “black soldiers could eat where they wanted and socialize with whom they liked… [and] laugh and joke and think as friends” (Keene 143).
On returning home, the African Americans realized that, despite having earned some respect from white Americans who had dismissed them as unsuitable for battle, they were still far from realizing any semblence of equality in the interactions with the white American society. Actually the white American soldiers were quick to dismiss the African American soldiers as cowards and unprofessionals. One white soldier said on returning home from the war, “African-American soldiers were a bunch of cowards… every one of them would rape a white woman if he was not held down by the whites” (Keene 143).
The French, on the other hand, had much praise for the African soldiers whom they worked with and regarded as professional and brave fighters whose dedication to the United States and democracy was unshakable. While the US dilly-dallied, the French went ahead to award one of the soldiers who had single-handedly managed to fought off a group 20 German attackers to rescue his comrade with a Croire de Guerre with Gold Palm (The New York Amsterdam News 43). The French General Goybet of the 157th Division of the French forces in praising the 372nd US Infantry Division remarked:
Never will the 157th Division forget the indomitable dash, the heroic rush of the American Regiments (Black) up the observartory ridge and into the plains of Manthois…These crack regiments overcame every obstacle with a most complete contempt for danger. Through their steady devotion, the Red Hand, for nine whole days of severe struggle, was constantly leading the way for the victorious advance of the Fourth Army” (The Crisis 44).
When they returned home therefore, African American soldiers had to continue the fight which was far from won, the fight against racial discrimination.This, they realized was going to be a battle tougher than the one against Germans they had just defeated. One member of the Hell Fighters remarked on return to America, “We are going to keep fighting for democracy till we get our rights here at home. The black worm has turned” (Katz ). The US government was unwilling to reward their achievements and sacrifices during the war as it did with the white soldiers. While hoardes of airtime and newspaper space was devoted to the praise of the accomplishments of the American soldiers who had just vanquished their nenmies overseas, not much was said about the black soldiers who had been instrumental to the victory. At the end of the war, members of the 369th Infantry were awarded the Croix de Guerre in honor of the bravery and dedication to their country (The Crisis 44). Only years later did writers generate interest in the experiences of the African American soldiers.
Shortly after the end of the First World War, white Americans again attacked African American settlements in 26 cities, wreaking havoc and killing African Americans including the soldiers who had just returned from the war. However, this ‘Red Summer’ attacks marked a change in the relationship between white and black Americans. While the white Americans had attacked African American settlements and got away with, the post-World-War I African Americans were aggressive and eager to defend their rights. The African Amerians arose and fought back, with as much gallantry as they had shown during the war. The Harlem poet Claude Mckay inspired the African American society with one of his poems:
If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in inglorious spot
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighhting back (Katz 5).
The US may not have honoured African American veterans of the First and Second World War equally with white veterans of the same wars. It may have declined to acknowledge the important role played by the African American troops during that war. Worse still it may have denied African Americans their rights even after the sacrifices they had made for the United States. That has however not dilluted the role these brave and dedicated soldiers played between 1914 and 1919. Through numerous authors and film-makers, the world now knows what happened during that period and admires the bravery and dedication of African American soldiers.
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