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"The Color
Line and the War"
A Commentary by
Amin Sharif
As I write this commentary on Roy Wilkins’
article, first published in the The
Interracial Review (May 1943), I can not help but reflect on
the status of African-Americans and other minorities in the
Armed Forces now waiting the impending conflict with Saddam Hussein.
There can be no doubt that Wilkins’ article reflects
the true conditions of “Negro” involvement in pre-war and
wartime activities. And, as expected, Mr. Wilkins’ testimony
is no more than a wartime postcard from another time explaining
that--then as now--things were rough in the Black Community.
What is rare about this article is that it is not simply a
generalization of the conditions facing an African-American community
ready and willing to give their lives again to “defend America.”
This article contains specifics about the treatment of
African-Americans during America’s entry and participation in
the war. It is these specifics that paint a damning picture
of race prejudice maintained not only at home but abroad.
Mr. Wilkins decries not merely the prejudice
that was “taken along” by white soldiers overseas in an
attempt to set up “Dixie practices” in places like England,
Australia, and North Africa. This article talks about
African-American soldiers being assaulted and killed not by Nazi
Germans but by white Americans in places like Alexandria (Louisiana),
Baltimore (Maryland), and “in an Arkansas town.”.
Today, of course, American troops of color
face another problem. For, perhaps, the first time in American
military and political history, these troops--our sons and
daughters--are being asked to fight an uncertain war. Quick
parallels will be made between this conflict and the War in
Vietnam. And those parallels, in many ways, should be dismissed.
The American public, including many prominent Black leaders,
were early supporters of that war. It was only after the body
bags began returning that the American public turned sour on the
war. There is no such illusion connected to this War. It will be
costly in manpower (human lives) as well as in dollars (our
flagging economy). What is ironic is that these are the two
commodities that America needs most and is readily willing to
squander in a cause whose outcome is at best doubtful.
I mention these things not because I am a
great supporter of Hussein. Hussein disgusts me. He was the one
who declared war on Iran killing thousands of them with chemical
and perhaps biological weapons. As a Muslim and a human being, I
find his ability to make war in this most horrendous fashion
appalling. I do, however, have concerns about what this war will
do to the long suffering Iraqi people and the region. A hellfire
will erupt if there are large numbers of human causalities and
Americans, all, rightly or wrongly, will once again have become
the “Great Satan” cursed by every Muslim from Egypt to
Indonesia.
But most of all, I am deeply concerned by what
effects this war will have on our sons and daughters. For all
Americans, the actions taken in Iraqi will be placed upon their
heads. What will they see when they are forced to kill--and they
will kill--innocent Iraqis? Will they be able to live with
themselves after they have killed to “defend America”?
After the Second World War, Black American
soldiers returned home and demanded freedom and equal justice.
The outgrowth of this demand was the modern Civil Rights
Movement. After Vietnam, Black soldiers, again, returned asking
for the same thing--freedom and justice--and the streets and
cities of America became a temporary “war zone.” I can only
wonder what will happen if Black American and other minority
soldiers return home after an Iraqi war and a peace (?) expected
to last some ten years. What will be their demands be and how
will America after squandering so many human and material
resources meet them? America better think about this? We all had
better think about this and pray to God that we have not created
a situation that will not swallow us whole.
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update 2 July 2008 |
