Horne, G. (2004). Race war: White supremacy and the Japanese attack on the British Empire. New York: New York University Press.
This is a story about how the Japanese got their revenge on the white race. During WWII the Japanese practiced “reverse racial hierarchy” in their internment camps. They would have a diverse group of prisoners but depending on what race you were depended on what privileges the Japanese would grant you. Whites were at the bottom of the totem pole and had it the worst inside the camps. The Japanese believed they were serving justice by punishing the race that had once wronged them.
Lentz-Smith, A. D. (2009). Freedom struggles: African Americans and World War I. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
In WWI there were more than 200,000 African American soldiers sent to Europe with the American Expeditionary Forces. For these black soldiers, this was their first time seeing a world without Jim Crow Laws. This lead for many of the 200,000 soldiers to take action in eliminating the Jim Crow Laws when they returned from Europe. Mostly all of them joined activist groups to push for a fair lifestyle.
The author also explains the racial tension within our own military. The story says that black and white soldiers in the US Military clashed just as much as they did with external enemies. There were race wars happening within the military and riots across the US. The Blacks were pushing for a new caste system and equal rights. Meanwhile the Whites were trying to keep the Jim Crow laws.
Harris, R. L., & Terborg-Penn, R. (2006). The Columbia guide to African American history since 1939. New York: Columbia University Press
This guide explains how the African American race has faced many trials and tribulations. They go on to explain how blacks were mistreated in the military. African Americans were given damaged or previously used equipment. They were also placed on the front lines during battle. The author goes on to say that there was racism in every aspect of an African Americans life, this includes military.
Westwood, H. C. (1992). Black troops, white commanders, and freedmen during the Civil War. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
This group of articles is about how race played a major role during the civil war. Many slaves got to experience slightly more freedom when they were forced to join the military. In fact many slaves wanted to join the military but not all of them were freed and able to. These articles also explain how the blacks in the military were nothing more than soldiers. They would take orders from their white commanders but could never have the privilege of ranking up.
Shellum, B. (2006). Black cadet in a White bastion: Charles Young at West Point. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
This is the story about Charles Young, who was the third African American to graduate from West Point. Young faced academic struggles, hazing and social ostracism while he was at the academy. He pushed through all of this to achieve his dreams of being a colonel in the US Military. It took him quite a while to earn respect, but he was reliant in trying to earn it. Against all odds Young did what a lot of whites with an advantage couldn’t.
Wintermute, Bobby A. "‘The Negro Should Not Be Used as a Combat Soldier’: Reconfiguring Racial Identity in the United States Army, 1890–1918."Patterns of Prejudice 46.3-4 (2012): 277-98. Web.
This reading tells the story about the black regiments in WWI. There were four colored regiments during WWI, the 9th and 10th Calvary and the 24th and 25th regiment. These were the first all African American units in the US Military. In this article two white medical officers during WWI explain how the four units were not granted the same respect as the other non-minorities. They told stories about how many citizens’ even soldiers wanted the blacks out of the military. There reasoning behind this is that they believed the African Americans were “unfit” for combat.
Wynn, N. A.. (1988). [Review of Strength for the Fight: a history of black Americans in the military]. History,73(239), 465–465.
This article was written by a military historian who spent much of his time studying history of race relations in the US armed forces. The author was not only a historian but a sociologist. He conducted many experiments within the US military with white and black soldiers. His main conclusion was that the African American soldiers had “thicker skin” meaning that they could handle discrimination better than the other soldiers would. The author noticed that even after being hazed by almost everyone at their base, the soldiers would still wake up every morning proud to serve their country.
Tomblin, B. B.. (2009). Bluejackets and Contrabands: African Americans and the Union Navy. University Press of Kentucky. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcw3b
This article is about the escaped slaves of the Union blockade along the Atlantic Coast during the civil war. Once the civil war started slaves started escaping north to seek freedom, this caused the northern army to grow stronger than the southern. This quickly became a major issue in America. They attempted to resolve this problem with The First Confiscation Act of 1861. This act labeled the runaway slaves as “contrabands.”
The Navy however formed relations with these contrabands. The Navy formed colonies for these contrabands to live in, in return the contrabands would work as crewmen on the Navy’s ships.
Butler, J. S.. (1976). Assessing Black Enlisted Participation in the Army. Social Problems, 23(5), 558–566. http://doi.org/10.2307/800478
These Journals took an exact statistic of which races were enlisting and reenlisting into the Military each year from 1962 to 1974. The statists show that every year more and more African Americans were enlisting each year. In 1962 only 12% of enlistees were African American, but in 1973 34% of the enlistees were African American. Another interesting stat was that in 1973 the Black reenlistment rate was 62% compared to the 47% for Whites.
Neimeyer, C. P.. (1996). America Goes to War: A Social History of the Continental Army. NYU Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qg7q2
This article is about the soldiers who were fighting during the American Revolution. The author explains how the army needed soldiers who were not connected to the new American aristocracy. So they primarily relied on African-Americans, Irish, Germans and Native Americans. Most of these minorities fighting were not enlisted, but were fighting anyway because it was something they firmly believed in and stood by.
Castel, A.. (1989). [Review of The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865]. Illinois Historical Journal, 82(1), 59–60. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40192259
This is a story about the nearly 180,000 African American troops that served the union. The author explains how these soldiers paved the way for the black military experience in future wars. The African Americans in this war were fighting for their own freedom, the article explains how the Blacks had a bit more incentive to fight. At the beginning of the civil war Blacks were not allowed to be fighting in the army, regardless of it being illegal there were still many Black soldiers. It wasn’t until after Lincoln allowed Blacks to participate that there were 186,000 signed up for the war.
Lane, A. J.. (1994). Black Bodies/Gay Bodies: The Politics of Race in the Gay/Military Battle. Callaloo, 17(4), 1074–1088. http://doi.org/10.2307/2932172
This article compares the two minority groups who have faced discrimination from the US Military, African Americans and gays. For a long time in the US African Americans were involved in armed forces and gays were not allowed to serve. This article was eye opening to find out that many African Americans were against letting gays into the Military. I was assuming that a race once discriminated against would support another minority group (gays) trying to start a movement. Eventually gays and lesbians were allowed to serve and many still do today. These two groups have a lot in common in how their journey into the US military succeeded.
Military. (2004). Military. In The African American Experience in Cyberspace: A Resource Guide to the Best Web Sites on Black Culture and History (pp. 197–205). Pluto Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183q64x.27
This article claims that African Americans have fought in every war in the US. In every war and battle blacks have always faced more adversity and tribulations than their fellow white soldiers. Black soldiers who fought foreign affairs would serve their country overseas just to return to America where they would have to continue to fight for social justice. This article also explains that the black union soldiers in the civil war were still slaughtered and killed after they surrendered, while the white union soldiers were allowed to walk.
Butler, J. S.. (1984). [Review of Minorities and the Military: A Cross-National Study in World Perspective]. Contemporary Sociology, 13(1), 83–84. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2068325
This Journal goes on to explain black’s role in the military during WWII. The US Military was moving towards equal opportunity and equal rights at this point. While civilization was remaining stagnant still using Jim Crow laws. Many African Americans felt as if they should join the military because they felt like they were at war anyway, whether they were a soldier or a citizen. This article then goes on to explain how America was not the only country experiencing racism inside their military. French speaking soldiers in Belgium were also facing discrimination during WWII.
Abell, J. D.. (1994). Military Spending and Income Inequality. Journal of Peace Research, 31(1), 35–43. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/425581
This Article explains how Military income varied depending on your sex and race during the 1970’s. The ratio of female to male weekly earnings was 62%. The black to white ratio was 81% and the Hispanic to white was 79%. This was called the “minority impact.” Black Soldiers were very involved in the production of durable goods and services. Despite their heavy contribution they were the first to get pay cuts when there was high military spending. This resulted in higher taxes for African Americans as well as higher interest rates and inflammation.
Delaney, D. J.. (1972). [Review of The Black Military Experience in the American West]. The Western Historical Quarterly, 3(4), 439–440. http://doi.org/10.2307/966879
This article was written by a historian who interviewed many different black soldiers that fought during segregation. Come to find out some black soldiers said they were pleased with their officers and felt that they were treated equally. Other soldiers would go on to say that they’re officers were racist and did not treat the blacks with the same respect that the whites were granted. The author shows that black soldiers received their fair share of good and bad officers.
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