African-Americans

Racism played a major role in the Second World War. The ideology of Nazi Germany was built on the belief that the Germanic peoples of northern Europe were inherently superior to other races, and that the Eastern European peoples in general and the Jews in particular were untermenschen (subhuman). Likewise, Japanese nationalists claimed that the Japanese were a divine race; that the Emperor was a direct descendant of the Sun God, Amaterasu; and that it was Japan's destiny to bring the eight corners of the world under one roof (hakko ichiu). Japanese contempt for their Asian neighbors became increasingly manifest as the war in China raged on and as Japan expanded its empire across Southeast Asia.

The German and Japanese attitudes were the most extreme and murderous expression of a general human disposition towards racism. Seen against this background, the widespread discrimination in the United States against Americans of African descent seems mild. This observation is not meant to condone racism, but to put the American racism of the 1940s in its proper historical context. Black Americans theoretically enjoyed the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold public office, and to enjoy the equal protection of the law. In practice, these rights were regularly abridged in many areas of the country, particularly in the South, where racist attitudes were perpetuated by extralegal organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan. The legal doctrine of "separate but equal" public accomodations provided justification for widespread segregation of blacks and whites, and the facilities for blacks were usually far from equivalent to those offered white Americans.

Underlying this widespread racism were real problems within the black community. Black slaves were denied any form of education, and their postbellum descendants continued to suffer from low levels of education up to the time of the Pacific War and beyond. Widespread poverty among Southern blacks also took its toll. Again, this observation is not meant to condone racism. The problems within the black community of the 1940s were not of their making. It is doubtful that persons of any ethnic extraction could have done better given the same history and circumstances.

Black Americans in the Military

The U.S. Army was largely segregated throughout the Pacific War. Many American officers believed that blacks were unfit to be good soldiers, and most felt that racial tensions would reduce the cohesiveness and fighting power of integrated combat units. As a result, almost all blacks serving in the Army were assigned to "colored" units led mostly by white officers. Many of the officers involved considered their assignment degrading, and morale suffered accordingly. However, many "colored" units fought with distinction in Africa and Europe, including a tank destroyer battalion and the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

"Colored" units in the Pacific were almost never employed in a combat role. 93 Division did see some combat, but its troops performed about as poorly in their initial engagement as any other inexperienced troops. However, the mistakes and confusion by the black troops was widely reported in the media, giving the impression that they had panicked under fire and otherwise performed unusually poorly. 93 Division saw very little combat thereafter.

As a result, most black troops in the Pacific were employed as service troops. These were certainly needed and made an invaluable contribution to ultimate victory. About a third of the troops working on the Alaska-Canada Highway and the Burma Road were black. Other blacks served in amphibious tractor battalions that participated in amphibious assaults.

The Navy had been largely integrated, at least among its enlisted men and petty officers, until the First World War. The Wilson administration adopted policies that all but excluded blacks from the Navy, even replacing black mess stewards with Filipinos. It was not until the 1930s that blacks began to be quietly recruited into the Navy again. Though most served as mess specialists, there are no noncombatants on a warship, and segregation is difficult to enforce. Black sailors were eventually accorded grudging respect by their white crewmates, opening the door a little wider to eventual desegregation of the armed forces.

The Marines were very reluctant to accept black recruits. However, once the necessity was forced on them, they quickly adapted. The tradition of "every Marine a rifleman" meant that a black Marine was still a Marine. Although attempts were made to restrict black Marines to defense battalions and support services, black ammunition carriers served with distinction under fire at Saipan and began appearing in the front lines at Peleliu. Regrettably, the Marines would revert to a heavily discriminatory racial policy after the war.

Many black servicemen took fierce pride in their service, but this was often mingled with bitterness over continuing racism. Black Americans knew they were fighting against enemies whose racism greatly exceeded that of their own countrymen, but such comparisons did not eliminate the sting of discriminatory treatment. Most blacks seemed to believe that their service in the war would entitle them to better treatment at home, a belief that came to be shared by enough white Americans that the armed forces would be desegregated within a decade and all other forms of legal discrimination repealed within a quarter century of the end of the war.

References

Dunnigan and Nofi (1998)

The Right to Fight: African-American Marines in World War II (accessed 2007-12-26)