February 10-14, 2003
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services/National Institutes of Health
Office of Equal Opportunity and
Diversity Management
OEODM Updates
Black History Month speech delivered to
U.S. Military in Germany
Lawrence N. Self, Director, Office of
Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management, NIH, was recently invited to
participate in and speak at Black History Month Celebrations by the
Commander, U.S. Department of the Army, Headquarters, 411th Base Support
Battalion, Heidelberg, Germany Unit 29245. Mr. Self will be speaking at
four U.S. Department of the Army bases in Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Arnstadt
and Kaiserslautern, Germany during the week of February 10-14, 2003. These
events will be widely attended by both military and civilian personnel
assigned to these installations. During his Federal career, Mr. Self spent
six years in Europe in EEO positions, the most recent in Heidelberg,
Germany.
Keynote Address
Opening Remarks
It is a pleasure to be here today. I
would like to extend my sincere appreciation to organizers of this
excellent annual event to recognize the synergy of Black History Month and
African-American achievement in the military.
In my capacity as Director of the Office
of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management at the National Institutes
of Health, I am responsible for managing NIH-wide policy formulation,
implementation, coordination, and management of the civil rights, equal
opportunity, affirmative employment, and workforce diversity programs of
the NIH. Our vision is to protect the integrity of the Equal Employment
Opportunity process and to make diversity a priority at NIH.
Today, in honor of the centennial of the
publication of W.E.B. DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk, I wanted to talk
briefly about the special relationship between African Americans and the
U.S. Military, which has been cultivated over the last century. The U.S.
Military, and the U.S. Army specifically, has served as both a catalyst
for change in American Society at large, and as a model for how that
social change and racial justice have come about. The last hundred years
bore witness to catastrophic upheaval and violence in the world at large,
and wide-scale social change in America. And at the center of all this
change stood the U.S. Armed Forces as a beacon of freedom and progress.
From the first shots fired by the Harlem Hellfighters in World War I to
Gen. Colin Powell's masterminding of the Operation Desert Storm, African
Americans have taken the brass ring of opportunity offered them by the
Military and maximized their potential to the fullest. And in doing so,
these African American soldiers, nurses, engineers, journalists, pilots,
etc. created a template for success emulated by African Americans and
Civil Rights groups in the Nation as a whole.
World War I
Positive changes to the position of
African American soldiers made during the Spanish-American War of 1898,
such as allowing Black officers to lead black regiments and allowing Black
soldiers to fight outside U.S. territory, carried over into the First
World War. While social inequities were still rampant on the home front,
the Military had proven itself an opportunity for African American Men to
establish themselves as equals in the defense of the Nation, and afforded
Black soldiers the opportunity to add to the grand legacy and reputation
set by the Buffalo Soldiers in the 19th Century. The sheer scope of World
War I allowed for the African American soldier opportunities to excel.
Volunteerism within the Black Community
was very high, and with the help of social activist groups like the NAACP,
two major all-Black units were created with the Army: the 92nd Infantry
Division and the 93rd Infantry Division. The efforts of the NAACP to fight
for equality within the military, which enabled African Americans to be
commissioned as officers, signaled two major paradigms for the rest of the
20th Century: that advances made by African Americans in the military
would serve as a testing ground for social activism carried out on the
larger National stage by groups like the NAACP. The U.S. Military set an
example for the rest of society to follow. In 1917, with the help of the
NAACP, Black soldiers won the right to be commissioned as officers and it
became easier for African Americans to register for the draft. As a
result, 600 Black officers are commissioned in the Army, and 700,000 Black
men register for the draft, with 400,000 serving during the conflict.
While Black soldiers were still
segregated from the Army at large, the need for able-bodied, skilled
fighters led to the heroic exploits of the 92nd and 93rd Infantry
Divisions and Harlem Hellfighters. Most of the 92nd Infantry Division was
excluded from combat situations and relegated to labor battalions.
However, escalation of hostilities in France led to the 92nd seeing action
in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. The 368th Infantry Regiment fought
valiantly in relief of the French XXXVIII corps, losing 226 of the 322
total casualties from the 92nd, and won the utmost respect from their
French counterparts.
The Harlem Hellfighters
The 93rd Infantry Division saw
significant action, fighting side by side with French soldiers at some of
the bloodiest battles of the War such as Argonne, Chateau Thierry and
Metz. The 369th Infantry Regiment of the 93rd, a National Guard outfit
also known as the Harlem Hellfighters, hailing from the New York City
neighborhood of the same name, were the first Americans, black or white,
to reach the combat zone in France. They were the first to cross the Rhine
River in the offensive against Germany, and the Harlem Hellfighters were
in continuous combat for 191 days, longer than any other American Unit
during World War I.
One of the men of the 369th Regiment,
Sgt. Henry Johnson, became the first American to win the French War Cross,
the Croix de Guerre. In May 1918, Johnson and Pvt. Needham Roberts
valiantly fought off a vicious attack by a large German raiding party that
appears to have numbered over 30 men. They killed at least four Germans
and wounded ten. Sgt. Johnson is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
By the end of World War I, the reputation
of Black soldiers as brave, honorable, patriotic and hard-working had
spread to the highest levels of the War Department. And while the U.S.
Armed Forces remained segregated along racial lines, the success of World
War I resulted in an increased number of African American officers and
Military career opportunities. Those Black veterans who returned to
civilian life faced many hurdles and discrimination. However, many of
these veterans returned home with experiences and perspectives never
before enjoyed by mainstream Black America. These veterans applied skills
learned in the Military to their everyday lives, becoming professionals
and leaders of their communities. These same leaders went on to effect
change on the national stage with political activism. The NAACP gladly
accepted these veterans into their ranks. These veterans helped organize
protests against unfair Government practices including the successful
protest against Supreme Court Nominee John Parker, who openly favored laws
that discriminated against Blacks in 1930. Another highlight of social
change was the 1935 legal victory by NAACP lawyer Charles Houston and
future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall clearing the way for the
first African American Student admitted to the University of Maryland.
World War II
As America began to prepare for
hostilities in the Second World War, the Government and the Military
greatly increased in size. The first peacetime draft in U.S. History,
approved in September 1940, led to 2.5 million African Americans
registering for service, and over 1 million serving in the Armed Forces.
With 75% of Black military personnel serving in the Army during the War,
the fine Army tradition of Black soldiers was continued by the
92nd Infantry Division in both the Pacific and European Theaters.
The numerous Silver Stars and other awards of valor from the men of 92nd
are too numerous to list here, but I wanted to share with you the
extraordinary exploits of one "ordinary Joe."
Private Woodall I. Marsh,
of Pittsburgh, Pa., was the first Black to win the Silver Star in Italy.
He got it for taking 12 wounded paratroopers from the front lines to
safety in his truck, after officers said it could not be done.
When he was told that he could not make
it because the water of a raging torrent he had to ford to get to the
wounded paratroopers was too deep, Private Marsh replied: "Well, there's
dirt underneath ain't there?" and he proceeded to ford it.
Under terrific enemy fire, he drove his
truck through water up to the hubs of the wheels to get to the wounded
men. On return trip, he tried another route, but it turned out to be
just as bad. He had to dig his truck out of the muck and mire again and
again. For 30 minutes during the trip, the Germans were trying to get
him and his truck with heavy mortar and artillery fire.
Units such as the 92nd Infantry kept up
the fine reputation of Black soldiers who amassed over 12,000 decorations
and citations of valor and bravery during the Second World War.
Perhaps the greatest success achieved by
African American combatants was that of the Tuskegee Airmen of the Army
Air Force. The formation of the Tuskegee 99th Pursuit Squadron came not
long after Gen. H.H. Arnold had proclaimed that "no Blacks would ever
pilot a plane in the upcoming war." Pressure brought to bear upon the War
Department by groups such as the NAACP helped break the color barrier to
pilot training, and the first all-black flight school at Tuskegee was
created. In a very short time, the pilots of the Tuskegee squadron proved
themselves combat ready, and finally in 1944, African Americans saw their
first air combat in campaigns in Italy and Romania. The Tuskegee Airmen
were famed for their almost superhuman feat of avoiding casualties. Their
skill won them both the respect of allies and foes alike. From this group
came the first African American General, Benjamin Davis, Sr., and also his
son Benjamin Davis, Jr. who would reach the rank of General in 1965.
The End of Segregation and the Korean
Conflict
The valiant actions of Black Soldiers
along with momentum gained by civil rights activists following World War
II led to President Harry S. Truman to issue an Executive Order on July
26, 1948 ending segregation in the Armed Forces. The Order called for
"equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed
services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." The
President also established a commission to determine the best way to
eliminate segregated military units. With the breakout of the Korean
Conflict and the rising threat of the Cold War, American leaders realized
that it would take all of our resources and people working together to
defend freedom around the world. The Presidential commission concluded
that "military efficiency would be improved with full utilization of
Blacks and that segregated units were an inefficient use of Black
resources."
An independent study conducted by Johns
Hopkins University concluded that "racially segregated units limited
overall Army effectiveness while integration enhanced effectiveness, and
that a quota on Black participation was unnecessary." By the end of the
war the Army had eliminated 300 all-Black units leading more than 300,000
African American soldiers to be integrated into previously all-White
units. By 1954 the last Black unit had been disbanded and African
Americans were accepted into the military without a quota system.
Like the two World War that preceded it,
the Korean War was full of examples of heroic deeds performed by
African-Americans. One such heroic group was the 24th Infantry Regiment of
the 25th Infantry Division, which was ordered into a major battle within a
week of arriving in Korea.
The 24th Infantry helped push the North
Koreans out of Yechon, an important transportation hub, in a victory that
later served as a rallying cry for other regiments. A few of the 24th
Infantry's soldiers, including Private William Thompson and Sergeant
Cornelius Charlton, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their
efforts-but posthumously. Both men fought off mortal wounds, including
grenade shrapnel, and continued to lead their men towards their
objectives. Their performance raised questions among army leaders about
the effectiveness of segregating battalions by race.
The desegregation of the U.S. Military
was a spark that led to the movement to desegregate the American Society
at-large. On the heels of the desegregation of the Armed Forces, Thurgood
Marshall, again representing the NAACP, won a groundbreaking ruling before
the Supreme Court in Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
This case essentially ended legal segregation in public schools. The
1950's also witnessed the heroic acts of Rosa Parks on the public buses of
Montgomery, AL, and the establishment of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference by Black leaders such as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The SCLC
would become a major force in organizing the civil rights movement.
Vietnam and the Ascent of African
American Power within the Military
The decade of the 1960's witnessed
tumultuous change both on the home front with the civil rights movement,
and abroad with the escalating conflict in Vietnam. In July of 1964,
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law making
segregation in public facilities and discrimination in employment illegal.
In 1965 Congress passes the Voting Rights Act, making it easier for
Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests and other such
requirements that tended to restrict black voting become illegal.
1965 also marked the point where America
widened its level of commitment in Vietnam to that of a full-scale war.
Black soldiers enjoyed the fruits of the legal desegregation in the
Military while the home front was still struggling with the issue.
Opportunities in education, housing, and employment still not readily
available to the African American population at large, were present in the
Armed Forces. And in the Vietnam Era the Black Soldier took full advantage
of the opportunities. In Vietnam, African Americans found themselves
represented in all branches of the Military, and in all ranks up to
Colonels, Admirals, and Generals. Black Americans found in the Military a
place where they were recognized for their skill, valor and bravery just
like any other American serving their country.
In both Korea and Vietnam, African
American Women began to take full advantage of the opportunities given to
them. Affirmative action and changing racial policies opened new doors for
black women. During the Korean and Vietnam Wars, black women took their
places in the war zone.
Chief Warrant Officer Doris Allen
recalled:
As a senior intelligence analyst in
Vietnam, I was recognized as having been responsible through production
of one specific intelligence report, for saving the lives of "at least"
101 United States Marines fighting in Quanq Tri Province.... During my
years of service I survived many prejudices against me as a woman, as a
WAC, me as a soldier with the rank of specialist, me as an intelligence
technician and me as a Black woman; but all of the prejudices were
overshadowed by a wonderful camaraderie.
On July 15, 1964, Margaret E. Bailey
became the first black nurse promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Army
Nurse Corps and would later become the first black colonel. Hazel W.
Johnson became the first black woman general officer on September 1, 1979,
when she assumed the position of Chief of the Army Nurse Corps.
The Vietnam Conflict resulted in an
unprecedented 20 African Americans being awarded the Medal of Honor - 15
from the U.S. Army and 5 from the U.S. Marine Corps. While their heroic
exploits are too numerous to mention in the time I have here today, I
would like to mention these great men by name:
-
James Anderson, Jr. Private First
Class, USMC
-
Webster Anderson, Sgt. First Class,
USA
-
Eugene Ashley, Jr., Sgt. First
Class, USA
-
Oscar Austin, Private First Class,
USMC
-
William Maud Bryant, Sgt. First
Class, USA
-
Rodney Maxwell Davis, Sergeant,
USMC
-
Robert H. Jenkins, Jr., Private
First Class, USMC
-
Lawrence Joel, Specialist 6th
Class, USA
-
Dwight Johnson, Specialist 5th
Class, USA
-
Ralph Johnson, Private First Class,
USMC
-
Garfield M. Langhorn, Private First
Class, USA
-
Matthew Leonard, Sergeant, USA
-
Donald Russell Long, Sergeant, USA
-
Milton Lee Olive, III, Private
First Class, USA
-
Riley L. Pitts, Captain, USA
-
Charles Calvin Rogers, Lieutenant
Colonel, USA
-
Ruppert L. Sargent, First
Lieutenant, USA
-
Clarence Eugene Sasser, Specialist
5th Class, USA
-
Clifford Chester Sims, Staff
Sergeant, USA
-
John E. Warren, Jr., First
Lieutenant, USA
John E. Warren, First Lieutenant, U.S.
Army, Company C, 2d Battalion, (Mechanized), 22d Infantry, 25th Infantry
Division was awarded the medal of honor posthumously for his actions in
Tay Ninh Province in January, 1969. Leading his men to within 6 feet of
one of the enemy bunkers, an enemy grenade was suddenly thrown into the
middle of his small group. Thinking only of his men, 1st Lt. Warren fell
in the direction of the grenade, thus shielding those around him from
the blast. His action, performed at the cost of his life, saved 3 men
from serious or mortal injury. First Lt. Warren's ultimate action of
sacrifice to save the lives of his men was in keeping with the highest
traditions of the military service and reflects great credit on him, his
unit, and the U.S. Army.
From the end of the Vietnam conflict
through the decades of the 1970's and 1980's, Black Americans continued to
enjoy the fruits of serving in the Armed Forces. Representation of African
Americans in the Military was proportionally higher than any other
population group. Blacks continued to climb the ranks of power inside the
military culminating with Army General Colin Powell, the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Persian Gulf War. General Powell
masterminded the first 21st Century-style war with the coordination of
logistical strategies, precision computerized weaponry, massive air
support, and monitoring devices. Of the 400,000 U.S. and international
troops serving in the Gulf War, 113,000 were African American. From a
group making up 12% of the U.S. population, over 28% of our fighting force
in Iraq was African American.
As we ramp up for what may very well be a
second conflict in the Persian Gulf, a recent article in USA Today
(January 21, 2003) revealed that while Blacks currently make up 20% of the
military, they make up a far smaller percentage of troops in combat jobs
on the front line. This trend marks a tremendous shift in the role of
African Americans in the Military. The Black Soldier of today is not
fighting a battle to fit into the Military, she or he is the Military.
Blacks play a pivotal role in all levels of the Armed Forces and the
Government. Society is still following the lead of the Military. African
Americans are entering the middle and upper middle class at record
numbers, and like their counterparts in the Armed Forces, Black Civilians
are making inroads in Corporate America too. Just recently businessman
Robert Johnson, founder and President of Black Entertainment Television,
became the first minority to own both the new NBA team in Charlotte, NC as
well as the WNBA Charlotte Sting. While the battle for equality is
ongoing, the Military will continue to be the model of equal opportunity
for all as we move forward into the 21st Century.
In closing, as you all prepare for
possible conflict in the Middle East, I would like to say thank you on
behalf of all Americans. The great legacy of those who have served in the
past are with you today. To quote President Bush from his State of the
Union Address, "the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training
has prepared you. Your honor will guide you. You believe in America, and
America believes in you."
Thank you, and God Bless.
Sources
African American Freedom Fighters
Soldiers for Liberty
Written by Melvin Sylvester to accompany an exhibit in honor of Black
History Month in the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library at the C. W. Post
Campus of Long Island University, Februrary, 1995.
http://library.liu.edu/
History of the 92nd Infantry
Division
www.indianamilitary.org
Women in Military Service for
American Memorial
www.womensmemorial.org
Korean War History
www.africana.com
Real African American Heroes
www.raaheroes.com
NAACP Timeline on NAACP
Web Site:
www.naacp.org
Civil Rights Movement Timeline
on Infoplease Web Site:
www.infoplease.com
USAToday:
www.usatoday.com
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