The 75th anniversary of the desegregation of the military this week will be an important and significant moment. However, I believe that the commemoration should not be complete without a formal apology to all those servicemen and women of color who served their country under oppressive segregation codes in World War I, World War II, and Korea.
We must recognize that this is not just a small group of individuals. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, over 1 million Black servicemen and women were among the 16 million Americans who joined the military.
My own father was one of them. In 1943, as a teenager, he enlisted in the Navy and was sent from his hometown of Birmingham, Ala., to Camp Robert Smalls at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois. Like many enlistees at Camp Smalls, my father and others were assigned to serve as cooks and stewards instead of being given guns and helmets. They served their country wearing aprons and wielding spatulas.
These servicemen and women, along with other Black, Brown, Asian, and Native American fighters, faced a war on multiple fronts. They not only fought against enemies overseas but also battled racism both at home and within their ranks. Despite wearing the uniform, they were marginalized and stripped of their dignity in a military still segregated by race. A formal apology from the Defense Department and the president would help restore the honor taken from them and acknowledge the oppressive segregation codes that hindered the full potential of the U.S. armed forces.
During the era of strict segregation, many Black enlistees were assigned to noncombat roles such as digging ditches, driving trucks, building bridges, or working on docks. Even those who managed to be promoted didn’t receive equal pay or treatment. Researching my father’s military history for my family memoir, “The Grace of Silence,” I discovered that historians often described service members of color as the “collective backbone” of the WWII war effort.
Despite their contributions, Black veterans faced bias and extreme violence in the United States. Throughout 1946, they were beaten, burned, castrated, and lynched, especially when attempting to register to vote. In February 1946, my own father was shot in the leg by a Birmingham police officer when he tried to enter a Black-owned building where returning veterans were studying the Constitution to pass poll tests designed to suppress Black votes. In South Carolina, a Black serviceman was pulled off a bus while in uniform and brutally beaten, resulting in him being blinded in both eyes. These acts of violence, including the blinding of Isaac Woodard, influenced President Harry S. Truman to intensify efforts to end segregation in the military and federal government.
While a small number of military commanders foresaw the negative impacts of discrimination against people of color in the military, it took six years to desegregate the military. Truman had to pressure top military leaders to comply with his orders. However, this did not address the structural issues in the 1944 GI Bill, which prevented 1.2 million Black Americans who served in WWII from benefiting from low-cost loans, college tuition, and job training due to the efforts of Southern lawmakers. For example, in Mississippi, where half the population was Black, only two out of over 3,000 home loans guaranteed by the Veterans Administration were granted to Black borrowers.
Apologies are long overdue in the United States. Last summer, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a formal apology for the anti-Black racism faced by a segregated construction unit during and after the First World War.
Some may argue that the military should not be responsible for issuing apologies. However, I believe that true strength lies in confronting history, acknowledging both triumphs and missteps. While the U.S. military has made progress in promoting equal opportunity and diversity within its ranks, the top leadership still lacks adequate representation from marginalized communities.
The WWI veterans have passed away, and the majority of WWII and Korean veterans are no longer with us. My father died over 30 years ago, and he rarely spoke about his military service. However, he kept his medals in his top dresser drawer, lined with burgundy felt. The neatly stacked rows of medals were accompanied by “I voted” stickers he received when casting his ballot.
I wish my father had lived long enough to witness Lloyd Austin, the first Black secretary of defense, leading an integrated military. As we commemorate the end of formal segregation in the ranks, I hope the government finds a way to honor and apologize to the service members who fought against tyranny in the war effort but couldn’t escape the inequality back home.
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