When the Vietnam War escalated and was wholeheartedly backed by the White House, President Johnson failed to realise the racial nightmare that American involvement in Vietnam would create. Vietnam coincided with the protests of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of Black Power during 1960s America. Whilst African-Americans were discriminated at home but also within the U.S. armed forces, the effects of black power, the impact of the Civil Rights struggle and “the resurgence of black sub-cultural style, expressed through dress, language and gesture”[i], had been transferred to the war zone.
Defending democracy abroad
Vietnam was a war against communism: it was a war waged to promote liberal democracy instead of an imposed dictatorship. Again, black Americans consequently trusted that if they defended democracy abroad they were more likely to receive it at home. They recalled the words of the legendary leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, W.E.B. Du Bois, when he advised during the beginning of World War 1,
Nevertheless, legislation still segregated blacks in schools, in employment and socially. Accordingly, Schaller depicts the situation:
The struggle for civil rights
As President Lyndon Johnson increased the focus of American foreign policy on the conflict in Vietnam, statistics soon presented stark evidence of racial discrimination. In 1965 there were 23,000 U.S. servicemen in Vietnam. By the end of 1967, the number rose dramatically to 465,000 – the result of Project 100,000,[xi] initiated by President Johnson in 1966. Qualification standards were lowered meaning that black Americans who had previously evaded the draft owing to poor education opportunities, were now eligible and so too, ironically, were racially intolerant, poor white men from the Southern States.[xii] 246,000 men were recruited between October 1966 and June 1969 – 41% were black, although black Americans represented only 11% of the U.S. population. 58,000 lost their lives in the conflict, 22% of whom were black. Less than 3% of the officers in the Army were black, less than 1% in the Marines.[xiii]
Black soldiers and the draft
After Martin Luther King’s assassination white soldiers applauded his murder. Racist graffiti, cross burnings and Ku Klux Klan material were tolerated on some bases. [xxi] Young African-American recruits were confronted with the symbol most associated with historical racist oppression, the Confederate flag, daubed on army machinery including tanks, jeeps and even helicopters. [xxii] Magazines such as Ebony or Jet were not stocked on some bases and neither were tapes of soul music or books on black American culture and history.[xxiii] Black servicemen were frequently sentenced to longer terms than their white counterparts, and once inside prison, Muslim inmates were refused copies of the Koran.[xxiv] Influenced by the Nation of Islam’s Malcolm X and later by Stokely Carmichael of the Black Panthers, black soldiers embraced their African cultural roots by wearing black beads and black gloves and flew the Black flag.[xxv] A ritualised handshake, the “dap”, was common amongst black personnel.[xxvi] Black Power salutes were also used in private between black privates and officers. Despite or because of segregated bars and clubs, solidarity increased between black soldiers. Several groups were formed: Blacks in Action, The Unsatisfied Black Soldier, The Ju Jus, and The Mau Maus. [xxvii] - they discussed black history, the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power and soul music.
Black Panthers in the army
The racial tensions in the ghettoes of Detroit and Chicago were now echoed in the armed forces. In July 1969, there was a race riot in Lejeune Marine Camp in North Carolina.[xxviii] Soon, the battlefield became a stage of conflict within the U.S ranks. Rebellion and mutiny amongst black soldiers began to occur. Also, in 1970, seven black soldiers from the 176th Regiment disobeyed orders to go on patrol duty, claiming their lives were being “deliberately endangered by racist officers”[xxix]
The Civil Rights Acts:
The Civil Rights Acts at home, in America, resulting in better employment and housing conditions for African-Americans put pressure on the forces to respond to the increasing crisis. General Chapman admitted in 1969, “we’ve got a problem.” [xl] Investigations on discrimination and prejudices were addressed in all areas, from the lack of suitable provisions for black servicemen to the small number of black officers.
Conclusion:
Participation in the Vietnam War without doubt heightened black consciousness, and help politicise every black American as a result of their being made “clearly aware of the paradox of fighting for democracy abroad when they did not have it at home.” [xlvi]
