418 ChapTEr 1 8 | iSolateD no More | period Seven 1890 –1945respected you as an officer of the Army, knew that you, an officer sworn to up-
hold and defend the principles of this democracy, were being denied the very
thing you are and asking them to lay down their life for. How can we demand
the respect of men under our command when we are not respected by mem-
bers of our own rank.
Gentlemen, I have seen men come from States of the South where my race is
persecuted beyond belief. I have seen them come cowed. I have seen them come
with no self respect. I have seen them come eager in the belief of what their
state did to them, their government would not uphold. I have heard them upon
entering the Army say, that an Army post is under Federal regulations and that
they would not be subjected to injustices of State rule. Yet these men have been
let down by the very government they swore to uphold. They see their gov-
ernment inflict upon them and a large number of the white race a segregation
neither one desires.
They see a great Federal government built on the principle of “Liberty and
justice for all” being swayed by sectional customs and traditions that were defeated
in a war seventy-five years ago.
Gentlemen, at the first touch of these injustices, the men of my race naturally
turn to me, a commissioned officer, to explain the reasons and policies of the gov-
ernment. Am I to tell them that the great and powerful government of the United
States of America is being swayed by a small state government? I ask you, gentle-
men, what am I to say? Am I to admit that we are fighting for ideals for another
country or people when America has not yet established these ideals at home?
These are the problems of the Negro officer. He is being constantly appealed to
by the men under his command to correct the injustices that exist on the post
and yet, the post, knowing that these injustices do exist, take[s] no step to correct
them. What would you do?
These type of conditions seriously injure the morale of the Negro soldier and
tend to give him an air of indifference that he is sure to carry with him to civilian
life. I have heard it expressed openly, hundreds of times by Negro soldiers that
they would just as soon give their life fighting the injustices inflicted upon him
right here in the United States than to fight to correct the injustices of other peo-
ple they know nothing about on foreign soil. This state of mind has been brought
about by the reluctance of the federal government to uphold firmly the rights of
all men.
Gentlemen, it would be foolish of me to expect that these injustices could
be wiped out immediately. For that reason I am making several suggestions that
would not solve the problem but would alleviate the tenseness of the situation and
increase the morale of the Negro troops....Philip McGuire, ed., Taps for a Jim Crow Army: Letters from Black Soldiers in World War II
(Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1993), 42–43.19_STA_2012_ch18_405-426.indd 418 17/04/15 10:11 AM