We’ve all heard the narrative countless times. African-American heroes, whose feats surpassed those of their white counterparts – were never recognized until recently, when our newly enlightened, and liberal, society finally unveiled their glory for all to see. The story of the Tuskegee Airmen comes to mind. Type tusk into Google search and “Tuskegee airmen” is the first result to pop up – over two million results. The Buffalo Soldiers is another saga that has become legendary in recent years.
According to PBS.org:
African-Americans have fought for the United States throughout its history, defending and serving a country that in turn denied them their basic rights as citizens. Despite policies of racial segregation and discrimination, African-American soldiers played a significant role from the colonial period to the Korean War. It wasn’t until the middle of the 20th century that African-American soldiers began to receive the recognition and equality they deserved.
Having attended public schools myself, I remember this message constantly being reinforced. There is little doubt that any survey of American teenagers/young adults that asked “Were African American military accomplishments given recognition 80 years ago?” would yield a large majority of “no” answers.
And yet I came across this in “History of the World War” (1919):
The caption reads, “AMERICAN COLORED SOLDIERS IN ALSACE – Inspection of arms before going into action. Colored troops were in battles with the Germans many times and succeeded in beating the enemy in every instance. (pg. 602)”
On page 609 we read:
In these drives the American colored troops played a conspicuous part. The entire Three hundred and sixty-fifth regiment, composed wholly of colored troops, was later awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre, or War Cross, by the French Government. It was a well-deserved honor, for the boys of the Three hundred and sixty-fifth bore themselves with great gallantry in the September and October offensive in the Champagne sector and suffered heavy losses. In conferring the Croix de Guerre, the citation dealt in considerable detail with the valor of particular officers and praised the courage and tenacity of the whole regiment.
Accustomed, as we are, to gross hyperbole and deception when it comes to tales of black heroism, we view such claims with suspicion. We have been conditioned to scoff, and rightfully so. But I say give credit where credit is due. In any case, the accuracy of such claims is not pertinent to my point here. My point is that even in 1919, at the height of Jim Crow and in the midst of the “Nadir of American Race Relations“, Francis March and Richard Beamish would not shy away from making statements such as the ones above. I am fairly certain that “History of the World War” was the first history of that war ever published, at least in English. Its introduction was written by General Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
Blacks were much more successful under jim crow than they are today.
I think Jesus is better for them than Jay-Z.
American blacks vs Alsacian Germans? Yeah right. A hint is the “French government” that oversees the same France which tolerated Josephine Baker’s antics for a long time was the one that supposedly gave out these medals.
One of the funniest (i.e., most irritating) things about racial Marxists is that each generation of them thinks they are the first. I’ll bet a fine cigar that this generation of race Marxists denies that my generation cared about PC, learned anything about Blacks or Indian tribes, etc. I know for a fact that my gen believed that the hippies weren’t PC, didn’t know anything about Blacks or whatever.
Race Marxist filth love to proclaim that they are the only ones who know history. The only way they can maintain this illusion is by never reading any history. It would be hilarious to take a student in a modern school, show them an account of a White politician circa 1900 to 1920, falling all over himself to please Black voters, but tell them it is just a passage from a novel. Let them critique it:
“There weren’t any Black voters before 1960 / 1970!
“Whites only started caring about Blacks when I did!
“History begins with me!”
The most foul-smelling combination of historicism and solipsism one could imagine.
The one who ties half his brain behind his back just to make it fair keeps telling us that most people’s historical perspective begins they day they were born, and he’s right about that.
Why do you think young adolescents do nothing about talk about and think about sex? Because they just became sexually aware, and they presume that nobody else has ever heard of sex, that they’ve discovered something new and profound.
The one who ties half his brain behind his back just to make it fair keeps telling us that most people’s historical perspective begins they day they were born, and he’s right about that.
Wait a minute, who is that? This is cryptic and interesting. I sometimes tie half my brain behind my back but my neurologist told me to stop lest my dendrites get strained. I told him I’d think about it.
I saw a funny one in reply to a question about which party blacks supported in the 1920s:
There was only a vote for freed black males and it counted for only 1/4 vote.
Read more
“freed black”? Someone doesn’t know when slavery ended.
“males”? Someone doesn’t know when women got the vote.
“1/4 vote”? Someone is a total dipstick.
You also have to consider that most of the media back then weren’t going to do an in depth story about a non-performing unit, even a black one. I have a feeling that back then the military dealt with these problems in house. The French were not about to publicly speak ill of any US unit or any other allied unit because it would have been very undiplomatic to do so. In “This Kind of War” by TR Fehrenbach, the author noted how all black units were completely ineffective. When they were mixed with white’s this problem went away (although I’m sure there were new ones). I have a feeling that black units have always had issues. It would be interesting to read the diaries of the white officers who worked with them and see if we would get the real story.
I suspected as much and thanks for the reference.
There has always been a negrophilic strain among whites in the US, although it has been given far freer rein in recent decades. Indeed, even the “Jim Crow” portrayal of blacks was an unrealistically benign view of black life, presenting blacks as predominantly friendly, laid-back, nonthreatening types, which any white who had lived in a mostly-black area during Reconstruction (or since the 1960s) would know was mostly fictional. And many Nativists in the north had more sympathy for black slaves on southern plantations than for Irish factory workers in their own states, who often lived in far worse conditions. So it surprises me little that even before the Age of Black-Run America, there were many whites who wished to play up black accomplishments.
Did ya catch ‘York’ the magic groid, and his statue at Lewis and Clark College?