The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-05-06
Negro Soldiers and Imperialist War

Today the Daily Worker prints the second
of series of three articles compiled by the
editorial board of the Liberator, exposing the
facts of the shameful discrimination practiced
against Negro soldiers during the last impe-
riaIist war-a discrimination that ranged from
Jim-Crow rest-roomS and mess-hsIIs to brazen
and brutal lynchings and massacres of the Ne
gro workers and toiIers in uniform.
The Daily Worker asks ex-serVicemen both
Negro and white, and all workers. to send us
additional facts, which we shall print.
l.
ARTICLE No. IL
In yesterdays article, we saw how the Negro
lmisleaders fooled the masses of Negroes into the
last in1perialist war. Today we shall see how
the Negroes were, as rule, kept from command
of troops and prevented from becoming officers.
Negroes Kept from Becoming Officers
The bosses could not afford to break down the
Jim Crow lines in the army and promote eff
lcient officers regardless Of color, So they did
two things. They segregated the Negroes in Jim
Grow regiments, and they promoted a few-a
very few-Negroes to officers posts as sop to
the Negro upper crusts," whose support was
needed to fool the masses Of Negroes into the
war
At the beginning Of the war, Congress author
Iized training camps, "for white officers only"
Fourteen camps were set up to train white OIL
GERS, and the War Department. stated it was
'impractiable' to admit Negroes to these camps
With the consent of the NAACP leaders, Jim
Grow training camp was set up at Fort Des
lMoines, Iowa. The admission Of Negro draftees
Into the training schools for officers was ex-
ltremely restricted. special table of organ
Eizaton" set up by the War Department in effect
prevented Negroes from becoming officers Of
high rank. A telegram from the War DEPART
Inent TO the training camp Of the 92nd Division
Negro at Camp Funston, Kansas specifies that
the following officers OF the division must be
l"white" officers of general and field rank,
medical officers veterinarians, all officers at
tached TO division headquarters with very few
exceptions all regimental adjutants, supply Of
Ulcers commanding officers of headquarters,
Icompanies, and Of engineer trains, adjutants Of
train headquarters and ammunition trains, and
supply officers of sanitary trains, all captains of
field artillery brigade and engineer regiment and
aides to brigade commanders
In order TO prevent Negro officers from filling
1.-THE staffs the courses given for example at Fort
Des Moines, we're deliberately limited to infan-
TRY and medical subjects.
The Student Army Training Corps set up in
the colleges very freque@sly drew strict color
line.
Negro doctors, dentists and nurses we're not
given the opportunity to serve according to their
professions, but were forced to as privates
Ioften in labor battalions A letter from the
Srgeon-Gener OF the U. S. Army in February,
isis, stated that "at the present time colored
nurses are not being accepted for service in the
army nurse corps, as there are no separate quar-
tiers available for them and it is not deemed
sAyisabls to assign white and colored nurses to
Sus same posts"
Most of the commissioned and higher nom
commissioned officers who commanded Negro
troops were white. The Negro Steyedore and la
bor battalions were commanded almost exclu-
siyely by white officers. And on the plea that
the Southern whites best understand" the Ne
rYues--thst Is, have the most practice In dis
erinrfnstion and lynching-the officers for thess
Negro troops were drawn mostly from the South.
1spdaaGS 10 say, -thees otfce ggaasiy rassixeAssd
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